Hiking the best of the Křivoklátsko ridges: a 29km route from Žebrák to Beroun

• This long walk explores the eastern section of the Křivoklátsko nature reserve, a large forested area to the west of Prague, in Central Bohemia. Křivoklátsko is generally hilly with much of the area above 500m in altitude. However, the eastern section is notable for its spiky and rocky ridges, often comprising extremely hard Buližník (bullied) rock. Buližník is a striking, almost black, silicate rock created by volcanic process that impacted the sedimentary rocks laid down in Bohemia more than 600million years ago. The ridges offer super viewpoints over the valleys and forests of this very attractive landscape.
• The walk starts in the town of Žebrák, just off the D5 highway between Prague and Plzen. It has regular buses from various points in the Prague metro system. This is a ‘one way’ route firstly heading northwards and then east to finish in Beroun, which has a mainline train station with regular trains back to Prague. This direction means the sun will mostly be behind the walker on the walk and has less height to climb. Finishing in Beroun also gives the most flexibility for public transport home at the end of a long day. The route can, however, be done in reverse if preferred.
• The route starts by passing the unique medieval ‘twin castles’ of Žebrák and Točník and then traverses the first rocky ridge of Zámecký vrch. The path drops down to the village of Hředle and then climbs up to Vraní skála (536m), which is located at the end of one of the longest sections of Buližník rock in the country.
• The route then cross the center of the nature area to visit the peak of Krušná hora (which translates as ‘ore mountain’). The hill was the main source of iron ore in the Křivoklátsko area since the Celtic times. Krušná hora has an impressive new viewing tower on its summit. From Krušná hora, the path drops down to the village of Hudlice (there is a small supermarket for supplies here). There is a short diversion option to another interesting ridge viewpoint – the Hudlická skála – just outside Hudlice village.
• From Hudlice, the final section of the route traverse the hill of Děd (493m) with its famous lookout tower, built in 1893 ( and was the first one constructed in the country by the Czech tourist club), before dropping down to Beroun town.
• Beroun has an attractive main square with several historical buildings, some well preserved 14th century town walls, an interesting town museum, two well regarded boutique hotels close to the main square, a number of interesting restaurants, and even an excellent new Italian gelaterie – directly next to the Pražská brána (Prague gate).
• Most of the paths are wide forest tracks with short sections on the road. However, the paths up to the viewpoints – particularly Vraní skála – are quite steep. There is a total of 650m of height to climb on the 29.7 km route (and 780m to descend). There are no recommended refreshment points directly on the route (apart from the shop in Hudlice) until reaching Beroun, so take sufficient supplies for a long journey!
• Note – this is walk is the third ‘leg’ of the 3 day ‘highlights of Křivoklátsko’ tour. For more information on this 90km route see here.

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

• Start at the main square in Žebrák town (regular buses from Zličín in Prague)
• Take the BLUE trail for 2 km to reach the junction at Točník – pod hradem (to the left a short way down the road is the castle of Žebrák – its ‘twin’ castle, Točník, is on the hill above)
• At Točník – pod hradem take the YELLOW trail steeply up the hill to the castle (stopping for a quick visit if desired)
• From castle Točník continue on the YELLOW trail along the Zámecký vrch ridge and then drop down to reach the village of Hředle after 3.2 km
• From Hředle continue on the YELLOW trail for 3.6 km to reach the Vraní skála rocks (note – the viewpoint is a short scramble up the rocks, but is well worth doing)
• From Vraní skála continue on the the YELLOW trail for 4.4 km to reach the forest parking area of Na Vartě (which is below the peak of Krušná hora)
• Here, take the BLUE trail to the summit of the hill and viewing tower, which is reached in 1.7 km
• After climbing the tower traverse the ridge and then descend the hill, still following the BLUE trail in the direction of Hudlice village, which is reached in 3.6 km – in Hudlice there is the option to divert for 500m to climb the Hudlická skála
• From Hudlice take the RED trail in the direction of Beroun, reaching the Děd trail junction in 5.5 km. Here turn onto the GREEN trail to reach viewing tower in 300m
• From the Děd tower, take the BLUE trail in the direction of Beroun, descending the hill and reaching the main town square after 3.8 km
• The train station is 900m from the square, along the GREEN or RED trails