An adventurous walk in the Károvské canyon near Zbraslav: 7 km

• There are a number of good walking options around the Vltava just to the south of Prague, most with good train connections to the city center. Many are accessed from stations along the Prague/Zbraslav line.
• The following walk is one of the more adventurous, involving a steep rocky climb out of the Vltava valley and then a descent along the steep-sided Károvské valley, following the stream downhill, on a newly created nature trail. The decent involves multiple hops across the meandering stream (there are no bridges). So, if the stream is full then this becomes quite a challenging walk, requiring some nimble rock hopping! Hence the ‘black’ grading for this walk, despite its relative shortness.
• The start and finish are from the Dolní Břežany-Jarov train station (one stop down from Zbraslav). There are frequent trains here to/from Prague’s main station. The 7 km walk can be done in either direction, but the suggested route finishes with the descent along the stream, followed by a short relaxing section on the cycle path beside the Vltava back to the train station. Taking the route in this direction, allows a quick stop near the end of the walk at the BEAR PLACE snack bar, with its terrace area overlooking the river (note: the bar is not usually open in winter).
• The 7 km route includes 150m of height to ascent and descent. The ascent is on a twisting, almost alpine path through the rocky terraces above the Jarov train station (there are good views over the Vltava on the way up). The descent is partly on an unmarked path (as of December 2022 – but it should get green nature trail marks at some point). It is therefore suggested to follow the route on the mapy.cz application.
• The walk can be done at most times of the year – but is not recommended when icy. Spring is probably the best time to visit Károvské valley for the wild flowers.

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

• From the Dolní Břežany-Jarov train station join the BLUE hiking trail (direction Károv) and steeply ascend the terrace
• After 2 km reach the Károv junction. Continue on the BLUE trail for a further 900m and then approximately 200m before the first house in the Lhota village, take the unmarked wide footpath sharply on the left into the forest (it is safest to check the turm location on mapy.cz
• This is the beginning of the nature trail – there are several information boards along the route. Descend on the widest path down to meet the stream in 650m (by the tourist shelter)
• Follow the stream downhill on the unmarked, but distinctive footpath, occasionally crossing the stream where needed
• After 1.2 km the unmarked footpath joins the YELLOW hiking trail, which continues a further 700m to reach the Vltava river bank
• At the river turn left to follow the river upstream on the asphalt cycle track (this is preferable to following the RED hiking trail back to Jarov station – the views are better and only the cycle path passes the snack bar)
• The train station is reached 900m along the cycle path