Železné hory
highlands
A tilted block of every geology Bohemia owns, rising gently from the Labe plain to a wooded scarp — with Lichnice's ruin on the edge.
Head for the scarp: the walking concentrates on the northwestern edge, where the hills — having risen from the Labe plain so gradually you barely notice — drop suddenly over the Doubrava valley. A classic day works that edge from Třemošnice, around two hours by train from Prague via the Pardubice side: the Hussite-besieged ruin of Lichnice above the town, the Doubrava gorges below, the Seč reservoir in the woods beyond. The depth is under your boots — the range is a tilted crustal block whose rocks span more of the geological record than anywhere comparable in the country, the reason the CHKO (1991) is also a UNESCO-listed geopark.
Deeper in, it is unhurried country of half-forgotten villages and forest lanes — good shoulder-season ground.
At a glance
- Countryside
- A steep wooded scarp over farm country
- Protected as
- CHKO Železné hory, since 1991
- Highest point
- Vestec, 668 m
- From Prague
- Around two hours by train to Chrudim or Třemošnice
- Best time
- April to October
- Bases
- Třemošnice, Chrudim, Seč
Places worth walking to
Choltice · Heřmanův Městec · Lichnice
