Past the Seven Loaves
Kokořínsko · CHKO Kokořínsko – Máchův kraj · Point to point · hiked 11 March 2023
A 29.6 km west-east crossing into the Kokořínsko from the Labe at Hněvice — the Sedm chlebů rocks, heritage-village Brocno, the Nedvězí view, ending at Dubá.
Kokořínsko is my favourite region, and this route is the west entrance: one hour by train from Prague to Hněvice on the Labe, then a day of walking a plateau that grows steadily better the deeper you go.
Fair warning about the start: the first kilometres cross Štětí, a paper-mill town with no charms to detain you. Push through — beyond Stračí the yellow waymark enters the woods and the sandstone begins, first with the Mariánská chapel and then the Sedm chlebů, a stack of rounded ledges that really does look like seven loaves piled up. From there the route rolls east to Brocno, whose green of log and timber-framed farmhouses is a protected heritage zone and the best rural architecture of the day.
The blue waymark continues through Chudolazy to Vidim, after which an unmarked path climbs Nedvězí — the open view from the hill is a rarity on this forested plateau and worth the navigation. The final leg passes the Rozprechtice pond and Nedamov to Dubá, finishing at the Nový Berštejn bus stop for the ride back to Prague.
Practical info
| Start | Hněvice railway station — by train, bus |
|---|---|
| End | Nový Berštejn — by bus |
| Waymarks | yellow, blue |
| Terrain | forest path |
| Links | Open route on Mapy.com |
| GPX | Download track |
On the way
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Brocno
A village heritage zone on the ridge between the Labe plain and the Kokořínsko — folk architecture around a broad green, on record since 1357 when it belonged to the new Charles University.
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Nedvězí
A 458 m hill above the hamlet of Nedvězí in the eastern Kokořínsko — an unmarked climb rewarded with one of the plateau's few open views.
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Dubá
A little town on the eastern edge of the Kokořínsko sandstone country that was once a leading hop region — its twin-towered hop kiln is the only one of its kind left in Bohemia.
