*A brilliant walk along the Sázava river between Ledeč and Světla nad Sázavou: 17 km*

A brilliant walk along the Sázava river between Ledeč and Světla nad Sázavou: 17 km

Note: this is Stage 8 of the Cyril & Methodius (C&M) long distance route, from Levý Hradec to Velehrad, but here is included as a brilliantly varied standalone walk beside one of the country’s prettiest rivers, the Sázava. See here for an introduction to the C&M multiday walk (there are 20 stages in total).
The Sázava river has many pretty sections to walk along, but the 15 km stretch between Ledeč nad Sázavou and Světla nad Sázavou is especially attractive. Parts are are almost still and offer tranquil passages for canoeists, while in the famous Stvořidla nature reserve, the river is filled with massive granite boulders. At the beginning and end of of the walk are two attractive towns, each with a chateau/castle, both of which are worth a visit. Add in attractive riverside pubs and a new ice-cream stand near Světla, and this becomes one of the best combined walks in the guide!
The walk begins in the historic town of Ledeč nad Sázavou, most notable for its striking Gothic-Renaissance castle standing proudly on a crag overlooking the river. The castle was owned by several prominent noble families including the Trčkové z Lípy and the Lobkovicz houses, but today is in the ownership of the town, which offers guided tours from April to October. It is possible to walk through the castle courtyards – which is the route chosen for this walk (beginning at the Horní Ledeč train station, where there is a small parking area).
From Ledeč the route follows the river closely. It is worth diverting off the main (red) trail to follow the road beside the river to reach the camp (run by the famous author and scout leader Jaroslav Fogler) at the sharp bend in the river. The route then climbs up the ridge on the yellow trail and visits different camp sites established by Fogler before World War II. There are information boards (in Czech only) describing the camps.
From there, the trail follows arguably the most famous and picturesque section of the river Sázava, where it flows through the Stvořidla nature reserve. The river is filled with huge granite boulders and in places is reminiscent of the famous Corsican mountain streams, where plunge pools often used by baked tourists for cooling off.
The end point for the walk is another historic town on the Sázava, Světla nad Sázavou, which dates back to the early 13th century. The town has an impressive Neo-Renaissance chateau, which is now privately owned, but (unusually) is fully open to the public throughout the year – even on Mondays! There is also a large and shady English park adjacent to the chateau, dating back to 1871.
In the early 18th century, Světla joined other Vysočina towns in developing a glass-making industry, due to the availability of significant amounts of timber and sources of pure quartz in the surrounding hills. Local glass works today remain important employers in the region, including in a plant owned in Světla by Crystal Bohemia, the largest Czech glass maker. The glass-making tradition is reflected in an exhibition of European glass-making in the chateau (and the colorful exhibits in the courtyard)!
The overall route is 17.7 km in length (although skipping the extension to see the Fogler camps can save 1.7 km). The section through the Stvořidla nature reserve is quite strenuous as it involve a lot of short ascents and descents in the rocky terrain. It is not dangerous, but would be challenging in wet weather. Otherwise the route is without difficulties and is relatively flat with less than 200m of ascent-descent over the whole distance. For refreshments, there are several interesting options along the route including the well known ‘pyramid’ snack bar by the river (map point 4). Watch out for the ice cream stand located on the new riverside cycle track (map point 7). In Světla, there is a pleasant café-restaurant in the chateau courtyard and on the main square the modern café Trafika. Both are worth stopping at.

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 Horní Ledecč train station walk through the castle and down into the main town, cross the road bridge and pick up the RED hiking trail heading towards Světla
After 2 km (at the U lomu junction) there is choice whether to simply continue on the RED trail towards Světla or take the longer route (recommended) by staying on the road as far as the Fogler camp and then joining the YELLOW trail over the ridge – this rejoins the RED trail after 2 km
Continue on the RED trail through the Stvořidla nature reserve until reaching the Mrzkovice – žst junction (map point 6). There, turn off the RED trail and join the new cycle track along the river, which leads directly into Světla.