The Quiet Side of Kokořínsko

A 39.7 km solo traverse of the Kokořínsko's quiet eastern side — timber-framed hamlets, the Čap rock, and the Ostré calvary before the finish in Úštěk.

Both ends sit on railway lines, which is what makes a solo day of nearly forty kilometres workable: train in to Liběchov, train home from Úštěk, no car to loop back to. And the distance reads worse than it walks — the climbing comes in short valley steps rather than real ascents.

From Liběchov the way follows the Liběchovka valley north through Želízy (the giant sculpted Devil’s Heads in the woods above are a short detour) and Tupadly. Then come the hamlets that make this route: Nové Osinalice and their neighbours are open-air museums of timber-framed and log houses, still lived in, with barely a tourist in sight. Past the Pustý zámek rock ruin and the villages of Zakšín and Pavličky the route reaches Čap — for my money the most interesting rock formation of the whole Kokořínsko, and its best view.

The final third leaves the plateau by Obrok and Skalka, crosses into the first hills of the Středohoří, and touches Ostré — the twin-peaked calvary hill I keep coming back to — before dropping into Úštěk and its station.