Bořeň and the Empty Hills

A 22 km solo line through the left-bank Středohoří — the Bořeň rock fang above Bílina first, then empty farm hills to the steppe cone of Milá.

Expect to do your own navigating on this one: outside the first and last climbs, the way runs on unmarked farm lanes, and the middle of the route sees hardly any walkers at all. The drama is front-loaded — the biggest climb comes within the first hour, and everything after it is quiet.

From Bílina station the way passes through the Kyselka spa quarter and takes on Bořeň immediately — the largest rock massif of its kind in Central Europe, and a proper little climb with the Krušné hory panorama as payment. Back down, the route turns south into a belt of low farm hills — Chouč, Lužice, Dobrčice, Skršín — where the only company is deer and wind turbines on the horizon.

The finale is Milá, the solitary bell-shaped steppe cone rising from the fields; in early March the first pheasant’s eye can already be showing on the south slope. From the summit the Louny cone country spreads east. The short drop to the Bělušice stop closes the day.