Stone Suns and Orchids

A 42 km May botany day over the Třtěnské stráně steppe, the one-of-a-kind Kamenná slunce, orchid meadows under Solanská hora, and the Košťál panorama before Lovosice.

Come in May or don’t bother. The whole day is built around what blooms. The south-western Středohoří has the region’s best steppe and orchid sites, and this walk connects them on a long day north from the Ohře, with rail at both ends.

From the Koštice stop the route heads north through Želevice to Třtěno and the Třtěnské stráně, a kilometre of white slope in full flower. Just beyond, near Hnojnice, a short detour reaches Kamenná slunce, a quarry wall of radial “stone suns” that exists nowhere else in the world. Make the stop even with the long distance still ahead.

The middle of the route climbs through Třebívlice into the hills. The orchid meadows are between Solanská hora and the Oltařík ruin. May is when they bloom. Past Vlastislav comes Košťál, my pick for the best panoramic lookout of the whole south-west. We had evening light on Hazmburk and Milešovka from there. The long descent through Vchynice ends at the Lovosice station.

Practical info

On the way

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  Třtěnské stráně

  monument

  A kilometre of white steppe slope above Třtěno. Feather grass, sea pink and flax grow on bare marl, at their best in May bloom.

• 

  Kamenná slunce

  monument

  A quarry face near Hnojnice where volcanic tuff dried around basalt bombs into radiating "stone suns", a geological formation described nowhere else in the world.

• 

  Třebívlice

  village

  A wine village on the southern rim of the hills where Ulrika von Levetzow, Goethe's last love, lived and is buried. It has a chateau exhibition and a working winery.

• 

  Solanská hora

  summit 638 m

  A three-topped forest massif (Solanská hora 638 m, Dlouhý vrch 618 m, Třtín 601 m) with no marked trail. Its open summit slope gives a wide view over the lower Ohře basin.

• 

  Oltářík

  castle ruin

  The ruin of a Hussite castle built after 1426 by captain Jakoubek z Vřesovic on a steep basalt cone above Děkovka. Little remains, and the view is wide.

• 

  Košťálov

  castle ruin 481 m

  A Gothic castle ruin on the bare basalt cone of Košťál (481 m) above Třebenice, one of the signature silhouettes of the middle České středohoří, freely accessible.

• 

  Lovosice

  village

  An industrial Elbe town at the foot of Lovoš and the mouth of Porta Bohemica, and the busiest rail gateway into the western České středohoří.

Photos