The Golden Trail to Trosky
Český ráj · CHKO Český ráj · Point to point · hiked 21 April 2019
A 24.1 km crossing of the heart of the Český ráj — from Turnov along the red Golden Trail over Hlavatice, Valdštejn and Trosky, ending in Sobotka.
Navigation could hardly be simpler: a single red waymark does the work for most of the day. What that convenience costs is solitude — the whole route stays inside the CHKO, and summer weekends fill the paths around the castles.
From the Turnov město railway stop the red Golden Trail of the Český ráj climbs almost immediately to Hlavatice, a lookout rock with a spiral staircase and the best view back over Turnov you’ll get all day. The trail then follows the wooded rim to Valdštejn castle and onward past Hrubá Skála through the Hruboskalsko rocks — the views keep coming, and none of it costs real climbing yet. Beyond the rock town the way dips into the Podtrosecká valleys and passes the Vidlák pond before the one proper ascent of the route, up to Trosky. The twin towers have been in sight for kilometres by then; from the castle rock you overlook everything you’ve walked.
South of Trosky the crowds thin out quickly. The final third is a quiet, easy walk through the villages of Stéblovice and Staňkova Lhota down to Sobotka, where the railway station sits close to the square — with time to spare, the Humprecht hunting lodge above the town is a short detour before the train.
Practical info
| Start | Turnov město railway stop — by train, bus |
|---|---|
| End | Sobotka railway station — by train, bus |
| Waymarks | red |
| Terrain | forest path |
| Links | Open route on Mapy.com |
| GPX | Download track |
On the way
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Hlavatice
A sandstone lookout rock above Turnov, climbed by an iron spiral staircase since 1908 — the first viewpoint on the red Golden Trail into the Hruboskalsko rocks.
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Valdštejn
The oldest castle of the Český ráj, founded around 1260 on sandstone blocks above Turnov — ancestral seat of the Waldstein family, reached over a stone bridge lined with baroque statues.
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Trosky
The symbol of the Český ráj — a ruined 14th-century castle whose two towers, Baba (47 m) and Panna (57 m), crown a pair of basalt volcanic plugs.
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Sobotka
A small heritage town at the southern gate of the Český ráj, overlooked by the baroque Humprecht hunting lodge — hometown of the poet Fráňa Šrámek, with a railway station near the square.
