Solanská hora in Autumn

A 17.9 km autumn ridge walk in the quiet south-west of the České středohoří — Sukoslav castle, Kloč, Štěpánovská hora and the three-topped Solanská hora massif, ending in Dřemčice.

Both ends of the day hang on village bus stops — Hlince below Kostomlaty pod Milešovkou to start, Dřemčice to finish — which may be why this corner sees a fraction of the visitors of Milešovka next door, even though the Solanská hora massif holds my favourite lookouts in the region. Autumn is the right season here: the steppe grass is bleached gold and the leafless trees open up sightlines the summer hides.

The Sukoslav castle ruin above Kostomlaty is the first stop and the day’s main climb starts straight from it. Kloč (737 m) is a summit for the tally rather than the view — forested to the top — but Štěpánovská hora just beyond repays it with steppe slopes falling away west toward Bořeň and the Krušné hory.

The middle of the route descends through Skalice into the saddle, then climbs onto the Solanská hora ridge and follows its three tops east — Solanská hora, Dlouhý vrch, Třtín — with the open summit meadow and its huge view over the lower Ohře basin as the finale. The way down through Blešno ends in Dřemčice, where buses run to Lovosice for the train to Prague.