An easy nature trail in the Kokořínsko countryside starting in historic Dubá: 7 km to 10 km

• Dubá is a small town with a long history, located in the northern section of the Kokřínsko region. The town has a Slavic origin, but the oldest buildings date from the 18th century, as most of the town was destroyed by fire at the end of the 17th century, not too many years after much of the population perished in an episode of plague. Unsurprisingly, the main square has a fine Baroque plague column, constructed from local sandstone in the first half of the 18th century.
• Several hiking trails converge on Dubá from different parts of the Kokořínsko region and a couple of good circular routes can be created starting from the town centre. A short (but varied) option is to follow the town nature trail which loops around the valleys to the south of the town.
• The whole nature trail is 9.5 km long, but it can be shortened to under 7 km by skipping one loop. Due to a number of natural springs, the area has some important wetland areas, which are highlighted in the information boards (in Czech only) along the trail.
• The route passes through some sandstone gorges and there are a couple of step sections, but the overall route is not difficult and there is just 150m of height to ascend-descend over the whole route. For refreshments, try the classic pub Restaurace U Nováků (map point 8) in the center of Dubá.

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

Directions

• Dubá has good regional bus connections and occasional direct buses from Prague. There are various free parking areas in the centre of town
• From the trail junction next to the bus station, join the BLUE hiking trail heading in the direction of Houska
• After 1.4 km reach the Černý rybník junction. Here, turn right onto the YELLOW trail heading towards Panská Ves
• After 1.3 km reach the Panská Ves junction turn right onto the GREEN trail heading towards Rozprechtice
• After 1.6 km reach the Rozprechtice junction. Here there is an option to skip the final loop of the trail (saving 2.5 km) and head directly back to Dubá on the RED trail
• If continuing to complete the full trail, join the YELLOW trail heading towards Vrabcov
• Remain on the YELLOW trail for 1.7 km until reaching the Vrabcov – mokřady junction. Here, rejoin the GREEN and head back to the Rozprechtice junction, which is reached in 1.1 km
• At Rozprechtice, join the RED trail which returns back to the center of Dubá in 2.3 km