Suitable for: adults
Length: 11.3 km, 16.2 km
Duration: 60 minutes, 100 minutes
Difficulty: moderate
Surface: paved road
How to get there: Get to Kvilda by public transport or by car (parking possible at designated park spaces only).
Refreshment points: Kvilda, Bučina
The recommended cross-country trail leads us through the heart of the Šumava national park to the source of our national river called the Vltava. We start from Kvilda, the highest situated village in the Czech Republic, along the paved path towards the “Source of the Vltava River” over Hraběcí Huť, where the glassworks used to be. The beginning of the trail follows the so-called “Forest–Free Landscape” trail from which we turn right aft er approximately 500 m towards the springs of the Vltava river. Aft erwards we only run along the Warm Vltava (Černý potok) for about 5.2 km following cycle path 1041 to the springs. Reaching the fi nish point is indicated by information boards. We can refresh ourselves with water from the stone well where the springs of the Vltava River converge. There is also a pleasant place to sit down and relax. The Black Mountain (Černá hora) towers here above our heads. We take the same route back to the village of Kvilda. Better runners can extend the route with a few kilometers to Bučina, the former highest settlement of Šumava from the second half of the 18th century, where you can fi nd a replica of the Iron Curtain at the hotel called Alpská vyhlídka. From the source we continue to follow the blue trail and then change to the red trail at the so-called “Strážní stezka” path that will bring us to Bučina. From here we go back to the village of Kvilda using cycle path 331.
1. Village of Kvilda
2. Hraběcí Huť
3. Vltava springs
4. Černá Hora (Black Mountain)
5. Bučina
6. Replica of the Iron Curtain