Short walks near Kozí hrádek, a south Bohemian castle associated with Jan Hus: 1 km to 5 km

• The unusual medieval remains of Kozí hrádek (‘goat castle’) are situated just off the D3 highway, to the south east of Tábor. The castle is most famous as one of the last locations where the reformist preacher Jan Hus spent time before setting off for Lake Constance in 1414, where he was was imprisoned. On 6 July 1415, Hus was burnt at the stake, leading ultimately to the Hussite revolution, which engulfed Bohemia in the 15th century.
• The castle was probably constructed in the 14th century and was finally abandoned in the 16th century. It was only ‘rediscovered’ in the late 19th century. In recent years the remaining masonry in the three fortification rings have been stabilised and restored. The consequence is that it is actually possible to walk on top of some of the remaining walls. (Multilingual) guidance sheets are available at the ticket office. A short nature trail (around 800m long) with information boards circles the perimeter of the castle ruins.
• The castle can be reached on foot from Tábor – it is a 9 km walk following the most direct trail. There are also (infrequent) bus connections from Tábor to a stop around 1 km from the castle entrance. However, most visitors will probably drive there and park in the free parking area just a couple of hundred metes from the ticket office. Near the parking is a snack bar with an outside seating area.
• It is worth extending the visit with a short walk in the attractive forest area near the ruins. There are several trails, passing a number of small ponds and lakes. One suggested circular route is shown in the map below. This extends the trip to 5 km. It is an almost flat route, mostly on forest paths, which can, however, be muddy after wet weather.

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

• Starting at the car park, follow the Kozí hrádek nature trail anticlockwise (marked with green/white diagonal stripes, and several information boards, in Czech only)
• The trail finishes at the entrance to the ruins
• for the extended walk, after touring the ruins, join the RED trail heading in the opposite direction to the the car park
• After 1.1 km reach the Ozvěna – Kozský potok trail junction. Here, turn left onto the BLUE trail heading towards Terezčin hájek
• After 1.4 km reach the Terezčin hájek junction and here turn left onto the GREEN trail heading towards Kozí hrádek – rozc.
• The Kozí hrádek – rozc. junction is reached in 1.5km. There turn left back onto the RED trail which leads directly back to the car park and snack bar