Solanská hora in Autumn

A 17.9 km autumn ridge walk in the quiet south-west of the České středohoří, over Sukoslav castle, Kloč, Štěpánovská hora and the three-topped Solanská hora massif to Dřemčice.

Both ends of this walk are village bus stops, Hlince below Kostomlaty pod Milešovkou at the start and Dřemčice at the finish. Maybe that is why this corner gets only a fraction of Milešovka’s visitors, even though the Solanská hora massif has my favourite lookouts in the region. Autumn is the right season here. The steppe grass turns gold, and without leaves on the trees you see much further than in summer.

The Sukoslav castle ruin above Kostomlaty is the first stop, and the main climb of the day starts straight from it. Kloč (737 m) is forested to the top and has no view. You climb it just to have it. Štěpánovská hora just beyond has the view instead, from steppe slopes that fall away west towards Bořeň and the Krušné hory.

The middle of the route descends through Skalice into the saddle, then climbs onto the Solanská hora ridge and follows its three tops east, Solanská hora, Dlouhý vrch and Třtín. From the open summit meadow you see the whole lower Ohře basin. The way down through Blešno ends in Dřemčice, where buses run to Lovosice for the train to Prague.