A visit to Krkavec, the highest point in the north Plzeň forests: 10 km
- Krkavec hill (504m) is a well known destination for Plzeň based walkers and cyclists. The surrounding pine forests offer attractive approaches on a variety of scenic footpaths. On the summit is a stone lookout tower, dating from 1900 with excellent panoramic views. There is also a popular restaurant offering snacks and refreshments.
- The walk to Krkavec can also be combined with a visit to the nearby Bolevec ponds, which are popular swimming destinations in summer. The separate walk around these ponds and the Sigmond nature trail is featured here, but the two walks can be easily connected to create a tour from 10 km to 15 km in length depending on the route chosen.
- There are five separate trails that lead to the summit of Krkavec, from all quadrants of the compass. However, the traditional route to the hilltop starts in Bolevec, at the Plzeň – Košutka tram terminus (which also has a parking area). From here a couple trails lead directly, or indirectly, to the summit. Take one trail up and another down to experience different paths in the attractive forests.
- The suggested route is 10 km long, with 180m of height to ascend/descend. The trails are easy, mostly on wide forest tracks, but are very uneven due to the extensive tree roots, so not really suitable for strollers.
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
- From the Plzeň – Košutka trail junction there are two direct routes to Krkavec summit – the BLUE trail (6 km to the summit) and the more direct RED trail (4km)
- The RED trail has a slightly steeper section near the summit, but the main difference is that the BLUE trail has a flatter section near the edge of the forest and takes a more circuitous route to the summit
- The suggestion is to take to longer (BLUE) route up the hill and then the more direct (RED) route down, but some may prefer the reverse option
- If wanting to combine with a visit to the Bolevec ponds, then take either the RED or BLUE trail to the summit and then descend via the GREEN trail which directly two of the ponds (which have swimming sites)
