29 The Bradný Gorge

Discovered for rokling.cz by Ondra Procházka.

The route starts at the parking lot under the dam of the Bystřička reservoir, where you can park your car. Follow the road downhill and continue for about 600m. When you reach the entrance to the Bystřička Ranch Camping (on your right), turn left and follow the forest road. After a short while, you will see the Bradný stream float on your right where the gorge trail begins.

After the right turn, head through the trees and carefully make your way to the edge of the raft and continue upstream. At first the gorge is wide, but gradually it begins to narrow, and obstacles begin to appear. Along the way you will pass two bridges, first a metal one and then a wooden one. After the wooden bridge the path is very difficult, overgrown and narrow. There are many obstacles such as fallen trees and rocks, so expect to get wet and dirty. The path is for the adventurous. In places you will have to push yourself trough bushes and branches.

Look out for huge rocks along the way, especially pudding stone and sandstone. You can snack on wild strawberries and raspberries. You may also spot yellow flowering St. John’s Wort or creeping jenny (also called pennywort). The path is mostly beech, birch and maple trees, with spruce trees at the end. Towards the end, the gorge begins to widen again and landslides can be seen on the sides. The gorge ends at the junction of forest paths. Take the path up to the top and at the next fork, turn right (you will see a hunting high-seat on your left). When the forest starts on your left, head through it to a path that will take you to the top to a sitting area.

The descending route follows the blue hiking trail past Jan Karafiát natural well and through the Meadows under Štípa nature reserve, where the remains of flowery meadows with orchids are protected, and through the Klenov nature reserve. The path with beautiful views of the surroundings will lead you to the Bystřička reservoir, where you will take a shortcut around the safety spillways back to the car park.

I recommend bringing extra clothes (in case of getting wet), good boots and insect repellent (high occurrence of deer flies). This trail is very challenging and adventurous – consider taking your children with you, the trail is very demanding. Go to this gorge at least with one more person – extra hands will be sometimes useful.

On the way back you can stop at Svantovít’s Rocks and the ruins of outlaws’ old castle Klenov.