Two loops above the village of Orlov in the Brdy highlands – 9 km

• The village of Orlov is located at foot of the Brdy highland area and being already above 600m is one of the more convenient launching points for a walk in these forested mountains. Orlov has regular bus connections with the nearby town of Příbram. It also has a small parking area just at the edge of the village, next to the main access trails, which quickly fills up during sunny weekends.
• From Orlov, it is possible to walk directly to Brdy’s highest peak -Tok (865m) – in a roughly 15km round trip, although the alternative route from the village of Obecnice perhaps offers a little more variety and is this guide’s recommended Tok walk.
• However, the advantage of Orlov is that from there you can quickly climb above 700m, and so it offers the chance to do a variety of shorter walks in the higher mountains. In winter – possibly the most scenic season to visit Brdy – this also means more chance of enjoying some attractively snowy conditions.
• Two short circular walks are described below which, when combined together, give a total route of 8.7 km, starting from the Orlov car park. One loop visits the Pilská reservoir, and the second the peak of Třemošná (779m) with its impressive viewpoint of Kazatelna, overlooking the Příbram plain.
• The ascent and descent paths have occasional steep sections, which can be icy in winter conditions, so care is needed at these times. There are no refreshment options in the higher peak areas, but in the village, 700m from the car park is the pension and restaurant Orlov, which has some good reviews.

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Directions

• Start at the car park at the end of the road which leads through the village of Orlov towards the hills. If driving and the car park is full, there are sometimes spaces along the road leading up to the car park
• Take the GREEN hiking trail which starts immediately at the parking area and leads up hill in the direction of Nad Slaninou
• The climb lasts 1km, and is occasionally steep and can be icy in winter conditions. At the top of the hill there is the hiking signpost of Nad Slaninou
• This point is the start of the two loops – the left hand loop goes to Pilská nádrž (reservoir) and the right hand loop over the peak of Třemošná, to the viewpoint of Kazatelna, before returning back to the car park
• For the reservoir loop, take the GREEN trail which is a broad forest road, which leads after 1.5km to the signpost of Obecnické sedlo. Here, turn left off the GREEN trail (which goes straight on towards Tok) onto the forest road, which leads downhill towards the reservoir
• After 600m, at the Nad Pilskou nádrží cycling signpost (yellow) which marks the junction, turn left onto the BLUE trail. After 400m there is view to the right over the reservoir and a seating area
• From the reservoir, continue on the BLUE trail, which turns left off the forest road after 800m, and climbs up the through the forest to reach the trail junction of Nad Slaninou again after 1.6km
• For the second loop, from Nad Slaninou take the BLUE trail which rises gently to the Třemošná peak.
• The trail then descends quite steeply to the viewpoint of Kazatelna, and from there down through the forest to reach the trail junction and signpost of Pod Malou Třemošnou after 800m
• At Pod Malou Třemošnou, turn right onto the YELLOW trail in the direction of Orlov, and follow this wide trail for 1km back to the car parking area