*Walks around the unique Mohelno Serpentine Steppe and reservoir area: 5 km to 20 km*

• The landscape around the small Moravian market town of Mohelno (located approximately 30 km southwest of Brno) is unique in several ways. Just south of the town an area of rocky steppe terrain is situated above the meandering Jihlava river. The steppe, created by an outcrop of unusual Serpentine metamorphic rock, is of European importance for its rare flora and fauna. An attractive 4 km nature trail (with Czech language info boards) explores the area and descends to follow the river for a section.
• The trail offers good views of the Mohelno dam and reservoir (created in 1977 as part of the Dalešice waterworks, a hydroelectric power system related to the nearby Dukovany Nuclear Power Plant). Looming over the reservoir (and visible for much of this walk) are the iconic cooling towers of the nuclear facility. Note that the steppe nature trail heads back towards Mohelno before reaching the dam. It is definitely worth extending the route to visit the dam, which has a fine view over the reservoir (used in the header photo).
• At the starting point for the nature trail (800m from the village centre), the most prominent landmark (apart from the cooling towers) is the wayside shrine of St. Anthony situated on top of a large Iron Age (Halstatt period) burial mound. There is some evidence that this may have been a necropolis area for one of the first Celtic tribes to occupy Moravia. Whoever was buried in the mound presumably would ‘turn in his grave’ if he could see the view today!
• Although just the nature trail itself (plus a visit to the dam) is a fine short (5 km) easy walk, it is worth considering extending the trip to do a full circle around the Mohelno reservoir. The trail crosses the Mohelno dam at one end, and the Dalešice dam at the other end. Most of the route is in attractive forested landscape (mostly oak). The full circular route is around 19 km long, assuming a start at the car park by the burial mound (it is an extra 1.5 km if travelling by bus to Mohelno).
• One attraction of the full circular route is the opportunity to visit the Babylon viewing tower on the way back to Mohelno (map point 10). The tower was constructed in in 1831 by Count Jindřich Vilém Haugwitz. It is the oldest stone viewing tower in Moravia and an interesting example of early Romantic architecture. The view from the top is not remarkable (especially as the windows are permanently closed) but the building itself is worth seeing. It may only be open seasonally at weekends.
• On the south side of the reservoir, the ruins of Rabštejn castle (map point 8) can be visited with a short detour from the main trail. Little remains of this romantically situated early 14th century Gothic fortress, apart from some segments of wall and a piece of a tower. It was apparently dismantled in the mid 15th century after a period of infamous occupation by robber barons.
• Overall, the full circular route is on mostly easy trails, of which the southern route above the reservoir is on an asphalt road. There are a couple of steeper sections in the forest and a steepish descent to the river from Mohelno. This is therefore not an ideal route if it is icy. The full route involves just over 400m of height to ascend-descend.
• For refreshments there are a couple of well-regarded pubs in Mohelno (not yet tested by the author, so awaiting a full recommendation). There are snacks/drinks on sale at the ticket office in the Babylon tower – but only when the tower is open! Otherwise, there are no refreshment spots along the route, so take enough supplies for a 20 km hike.

Note: click ‘Show on Mapy.com’ above to go to a full screen version directly on the mapy.cz site. This can be used for online navigation, saved or exported as a GPX file

Directions

• If travelling by bus to Mohelno town (there are connections from Třebíč), the start of the nature trail is 800m along a side street – best located using an online map. There is a parking area directly at the start of the trail – paid during high season
• Following the nature trail (marked with classic green-white diagonal markers) in an anticlockwise direction, initiallz heading away from the Dukovany towers
• After 2.3 km reach the Papírna trail junction. Here, the nature trail heads back uphill to Mohelno, but it is worth extending the route by following the RED hiking trail towards Mohelnská přehrada to visit the dam, with a view over the reservoir. This is reached 800m after leaving the Papírna trail junction
• If only wanting the short (5 km) return back to the Papírna trail junction and there follow the nature trail uphill to return back to Mohelno
• To complete the Mohelno reservoir circuit, cross the dam following the RED trail
• After 3 km there is a diversion sign to visit the ruins of Rabštejn castle
• Continue on from Rabštejn along the RED trail for a further 6.4 km, passing over the Dalešice dam, to reach the village of Kramolín
• At the village, join the YELLOW trail, heading in the direction of Zelený les
• After 400m following the road, the YELLOW trail branches to the right to follow a forest path. At nthis point, if wanting to visit the Babylon tower leave the YELLOW trail and either follow the road until reaching sign to the tower, or follow the unmarked forest footpath that leads more directly to the tower after 800m
• From the tower, head slightly downhill for 100m to join up with the BLUE hiking trail which leads directly back to the Mohelno nature trail and the burial mound after 4.3 km