The ‘krásné vyhlídky’ nature trail above Josef Lada’s Mnichovice: 11 km (extendable)

• The attractive and surprisingly hilly terrain southeast of Prague, between Říčany and Benešov, was a major source of inspiration for the Czech author and illustrator, Josef Lada’s famous tales of the travels of Mikeš the talking cat.
• There is an (occasionally marked) 20 km one way trail route between Lada’s home village of Hrusice and Říčany, called the Mikešova cesta, with illustrations and quotes from the books at various stopping points. However, the route has some less interesting sections and includes several stretches along public roads. Exploring Lada’s countryside is therefore arguably best done in shorter circular routes. One option is to start in Hrusice – see the following page for a walk starting there.
• The trail between Lada’s home village of Hrusice and Mnichovice was the scene of one of Lada’s most popular stories; Mikeš and Pašík the pig’s journey with a barrow…A nice circular 10 km educational trail, called the ‘krásné vyhlídky’ (lovely views) route has been created in the hills above Mnichovice. Part of the trail follows the Mikešova cesta, but other sections are new and the information boards highlight the nature and history of the area (including the influence of Lada).
• One advantage of starting and finishing a tour from Mnichovice is that there are fast and frequent trains there from Prague (as well as a small free parking area at the station). If desired, the trip can be extended by dipping into the extensive natural beech forests of the Voděradské bučiny nature reserve. There are many trails in these attractive forests, so walks of virtually any length can be created.
• The basic nature trail, starting and finishing at Mnichovice station, is just under 11 km long with 190m of height to ascend-descend. None of the trails are difficult, but the route is not recommended for strollers. There are various refreshment options along the route, in the villages of Klokočná, Struhařov and in Mnichovice itself, including a couple of popular pubs on the road down to the center from the station.

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

• The whole route follows the classic green-white diagonal stripes of a nature trail (the markings are reasonably visible throughout the whole route)
• The start at Mnichovice trail station also follows the YELLOW trail downhill (direction Koloděje)
• After 1.9 km on the YELLOW trail, the nature trail branches, just before the Koloděje trail junction. Take the right hand path, leaving the YELLOW trail, just to follow the green-white diagonal markers
• The trail leads up into the hills to reach the first (and best) viewpoint after 2.3 km, which has a tourist shelter
• Continue following the green-white markers into the village of Struhařov and onto the village of Klokočná which is reached 3.5 km after leaving the viewpoint (part of the route follows the Mikešova cesta, but also deviates from it in places – stay on the green/white nature trail)
• If wanting to extend the walk with a section in the beech forest, take one of the paths heading northwards into the forest between the villages of Klokočná and Struhařov and circle back to the same spot
• At Klokočná, rejoin the YELLOW hiking trail heading down hill towards Mnichovice, returning back to the Koloděje junction after 1.4 km
• From there retrace the path back to Mnichovice on the outbound trail