An easy walk, through Pec pod Sněžkou and along the lovely Obří důl valley: up to 7 km
- Pec pod Sněžkou is one of the larger winter and summer mountain resorts in the country. It is spread out over two valleys and offers a variety of ski trails in winter and hiking trails in summer. Pec is perhaps best known as the most convenient starting point for an ascent of Sněžka (the highest Czech mountain), but there are many other walking routes available for those based in Pec. The town website gives some suggestions. Of these, probably the easiest and definitely recommended is the walk up the beautiful Obří důl valley (note that this is also our recommended approach route for the Sněžka walk).
- Obří důl (meaning ‘Giant valley’) is a huge valley situated directly below the steep slopes of Sněžka. It was carved out by glacial action during the Ice Ages. The Úpa river, which has its source near the western slopes Sněžka, winds its way down Obří důl in picturesque cascades. There are several pretty mountain farmhouses along the valley, which is served with an asphalt road. At the end of the valley a chapel was built as a memorial to the 1897 landslide with buried two settlements and killed seven inhabitants.
- Obří důl was probably the first settled area of Pec, when camps were established in the early 16th century, to mine copper and arsenic ore. Later in the 16th century, woodcutters were invited from the Alpine countries to settle in the area. Their expertise was needed to generate the massive amounts of timber needed for the Kutná hora silver mines. The Alpine style architecture in the mountain pastures is a consequence of the woodcutters’ presence.
- From the bus station to the end of the asphalt road (where the memorial chapel is located) it is 3.7 km, with 190m of ascent, all gentle. It is a trail perfectly to suited to walking with a stroller. As the return journey is along the same path, the walk can be shortened if needed. For refreshments, there are two pleasant mountain restaurants close to each other along the route, Bouda v Obřím dole (map point 2) and Bouda pod Sněžkou (map point 3). Both have summer terraces.
Note: click ‘Show on map’ 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
- Starting at the Pec bus station (which has direct connections with Prague), follow the signs to the Lanovka (gondola bottom station), which is reached after 1.5 km
- Continue past the lift station on the BLUE trail which leads through the Obří důl. The chapel at the end of the valley is 2.2 km from the lift station
- Return back on the same route
