Short walks along the Karel Čapek nature trail near Dobříš: 2 km to 8 km

• Karel Čapek (1890-1938) is one of the Czech Republic’s most famous writers and was nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature. Internationally, he is possibly most known as an early Science Fiction writer and inventor of the word ‘robot’ (although Čapek actually credits his artist brother Josef with the invention).
• Čapek married actress and writer Olga Scheinpflugová in 1935 and they came to live in a house on the outskirts of the Central Bohemian town of Dobříš, together with Josef Čapek . Karel Čapek only lived a further three years, a period when he was strongly anti fascist and anti communist.
• Čapek was designated the Gestapo’s second most wanted man in Bohemia and after the 1939 German invasion came to arrest him, only discover he had died the year before of pneumonia. However, his brother, Josef Čapek was arrested. He died in a German concentration camp in April 1945.
• The Čapek home near Dobříš is now a museum dedicated to Karel’s life and work. Starting near the house is a nature trail through the surrounding forests which are notable for their ruins of forges and industrial mills dating back to the 17th century.
• There are essentially two loops available on the trail – a short 2 km stroll and a longer version which extends to 8 km, including a short diversion to the ruined 17th century hammer mill of Plechhammer (which burned down in 1931). There are information boards on the routes, including information about Čapek’s life and the forest environment. Some of the boards include photos taken by Čapek – he was a renowned amateur photographer.
• The trails are mostly easy forest tracks, but are quite rough in places and not really suitable for strollers. Over the full 8km circuit there is 100m of height to climb/descend. Refreshments are available in the snack bar next to the Čapek house – but this is only open at the same times as the museum.

Note: click ‘Show on Mapy.com’  to go to a full screen version of the route directly on the mapy.com site. This can be used for on line navigation, saved or exported as a GPX file.

Directions

• Start at the parking area next to the Strž rybník (fish pond). If traveling by public transport, this parking area is on the BLUE hiking trail approximately 1 km from the village of Stará Huť (which has a train station and buses from Dobříš)
• From the parking area, take the GREEN trail for 500m to reach the Karel Čapek Memorial (museum and house)
• After visiting the memorial, stay on the GREEN trail which follows the walls around the garden
• After 500m there is turn to the left marked as route 1 (this is the option to take if only wanting the 2 km loop)
• For the longer route, stay on the GREEN trail for 100m. At this point the GREEN trail curves to the right, whereas the nature trail continues straight on – CARE required as there do not appear to be any markings at this junction (map point 3)
• The trail passes some old forge relics (with an information board) and meets the YELLOW hiking trail after 1.1 km
• Turn left onto the YELLOW trail and continue for 900m to reach the U Čtvrtého hamru trail junction. Here, turn left onto the BLUE trail signposted to Dobříš
• After 650 m cross an old stone bridge (with 3 arches). On the right, just after the bridge is a footpath leading uphill away from the main track. This is the beginning of a 1.1 km diversion to the ruins of Plechhammer forge. The route has a marker at the start indicating this as the 3rd segment of the nature trail but otherwise is unmarked and a good map is needed to follow the route. It is an optional diversion and passes some derelict old cottages on the way to the forge ruins (see picture below). If taking the diversion it is necessary to return back on the same path back to the old stone bridge.
• From the old stone bridge to complete the main nature trail loop continue on the BLUE trail for 1.9 km to return back to parkring area near the memorial