*The unique trail between the Kokořínsko villages of Olešno and Střezivojice: 15 km*

• When the shallow Cretaceous sea (which covered half of Bohemia some 90 million years ago) finally retreated, it left behind a legacy that today makes hiking in parts of the Czech countryside an extraordinary adventure. Deposited on the seabed were hundreds of meters of sand, washed down from the surrounding hillsides by massive tropical storms. Over time, the sand was compacted into layers of sandstone.
• Those layers were then uplifted, cracked and infused with streams of hot magma, by the same tectonic events that created the Alps. In the following millennia, those cracked sandstone layers, colored and hardened by volcanic processes, were eroded into columns and blocks of every imaginable shape and size.
• These amazing sandstone rock formations can be found in many places throughout northern Bohemia, most famously in České Švýcarsko and Český ráj. The formations in the Kokořinsko region are sometimes overlooked in favor of the grander and taller rocks in neighboring regions, but the sandstone in Kokořinsko is unique for its variety of colors – the area was most heavily influenced by volcanism.
• A good starting point for some of the best trails through the Kokořinsko sandstone rocks is the small village of Ráj (which translates as ‘heaven’), just a few km north of Mšeno town. Ráj has a pleasant restaurant (map point 7) and outdoor snack bar (map point 2), which are good options after a scramble around the rocks. Ráj has bus connections with Mšeno and also Mělník. There are a couple of small parking areas near the two restaurants.
• The route shown below includes a remarkable trail on a narrow terrace directly beneath the sandstone cliffs that line a series of gorges stretching 4 km between the villages of Olešno and Střezivojice. It is one of the most scenic trails in the region. Above the trail are a number of named rock columns and cliff faces that are important rock climbing spots.
• Olešno and Střezivojice are both village conservation areas and have fine examples of timbered folk architecture, mostly dating from the 19th century. The total suggested route is 15.2 km long, with just over 300m of height to ascend/descend. The 4 km section beneath the cliffs is quite narrow and has numerous short steep up and down sections, but is not seriously challenging. Otherwise, the route is on easy trails. For refreshments, in addition to the marked options in Ráj, there is an outdoor pub in the village of Střezivojice, which is quite popular.

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

• Startin g in Ráj, join the YELLOW trail, heading towards Olešno, which is reached after 800m
• From Olešno, continue on the YELLOW trail (note after 3.3 km there is a diversion sign up through a narrow rock crack, with rough stone steps, to an artificial cave, Jeskyně Kamenný úl – see first picture below)
• Continue on the undulating YELLOW trail, mostly below the cliff face to finally reach the village of Střezivojice (4.2 km after the diversion to Jeskyně Kamenný úl)
• In Střezivojice join the BLUE trail, heading in the direction of Planý důl
• Continue on the BLUE trail for 5.6 km until reaching the public road near the village of Vojtěchov
• At the road junction, turn left and continue along the road (which joins up with the RED trail) for 1.1 km to return back to Ráj