From Santini's Star

A 34 km crossing of the Žďárské vrchy from Santini's UNESCO star church at Žďár over Tisůvka and the primeval forest of Žákova hora, down the Svratka to Herálec and on to Hlinsko.

Give the first two hours to Žďár before the walking starts. Most of the sights come right at the beginning, and there is no reason to hurry the rest of the day. Once you leave town, the day changes. You get woods and ridge in the middle and river country at the end.

Start with the monastery-château and its courtyard café, then climb to Zelená hora. Santini’s five-pointed star church is, for me, one of the greatest pieces of architecture in the country. See it early, in an empty morning. From there the route leads north out of town through Stržanov and Škrdlovice into the woods of the central ridge.

The ridge section is the wild half. You cross Tisůvka with the split rock wall of the Čertův kámen on its summit, then Žákova hora, where the trail passes through primeval beech forest. There is no view there, but it is the oldest protected woodland in the hills. The descent follows the young Svratka down to Herálec. The final third is easier. It runs along the river country through Hamry into Hlinsko. If the legs still work, the timber quarter of Betlém is right by the route before the station.