Walks from Sušice to the Svatobor lookout, returning along the Otava river: 10 km to 15 km
- The ancient town of Sušice is viewed today as a gateway to the mountainous and popular Šumava region. Yet Sušice is worth exploring in its own right, picturesquely situated directly on the Otava river (known from prehistoric times to be an important gold-bearing river).
- Sušice was likely founded in Slavic times, partly due to its proximity to the sacred mountain of Svatobor (845m). This mountain was probably important to the earliest inhabitants of the Czech lands, evidence of a hut dating from at least 10000 years ago having been discovered at the summit. Today, there is a TV transmitter and a 32m tourist lookout tower, first built in 1894. An alpine style lodge serves good food next to the tower.
- The tower has a good panorama from its top (slightly spoilt by the fact that the lookout is enclosed and the windows that do not fully open, but it is still worth climb up). The direct walking route to the summit from Sušice ascends the east flank and is around 3.5 km (there is a small parking area at the top for those preferring to avoid the 370m summit climb, although none of the climbing is particularly steep).
- The suggested return route is longer, following the paths down the southern flank to reach the river Otava, with a section beside this attractive river leading back into town, altogether giving a 10 km round trip. The trip can be lengthened to 15 km if desired by taking an indirect route to the summit via the nearby village of Hrádek (which has a very fine restored Renaissance chateau, which now offers accommodation and has a restaurant).
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
- There are direct bus connections from Prague to Sušice and various parking options around town (including paid parking on the main square)
- From the main square, if taking the direct route to the summit (the 10 km walk) join the RED trail. This leads after 3.8 km directly to the lookout tower). If choosing the longer 15 km route, via , follow the GREEN trail for 5.1 km to reach Hrádek and from there the YELLOW trail to ascend to the lookout tower – 3.9 km from Hrádek)
- From the lookout tower take the YELLOW trail in the direction of Úbočí Svatoboru
- After 3.4 km reach the junction of Červené Dvorce and here join the RED trail following the river back to Sušice. the town center is reached after 2.9 km
