Orlické hory – Northeastern Bohemia

Orlické hory (or Eagle Mountains) are located on the border with Poland and most of the area is designated protected landscape area. The highest point is Velká Deštná (1115 m).

We found the accommodation in a village Říčky and our landlord recommended the ride on the top of the range (hřebenovka). We added the visit to a fortress “Hanička” built in the period before the second world war when the line of fortification along the Czechoslovakia border was being built. Out of planned 30,000 bunkers only 10,000 were built before the Munich agreement gave the borders (Sudeten) to Hitler’s Germany. Visit to “Hanička” is strongly recommended to appreciate the extent of this huge project. Most of the structure is hidden underground and you will be walking for about an hour at a very cold temperature – take a jacket.

This ride we started on the top of the range on a parking lot Mezivrší. On the path to Hanička (point 2) you will see several small fortifications and if you pay attention you may find the one on your left side (after about 600 m from the parking) which was “privatized” and is being used as a private cottage. You may also visit view tower on Annenský vrch next to another two bunkers.

If you want to be able to have a lunch on your trip, plan to be at Masarykova chata at Šerlich at some reasonable time. The alternative for refreshment is a small kiosk at the crossing at Velká Deštná – you should stop there in any case and visit very modern view tower just a stone throw from the kiosk. Just in case you are interested in “geocaching” game, look for one on this mountain – it is in a tiny “copy” of the view tower hidden in the forest about 10 m away from relaxing tourists. Another place to have a coffee is at Pěticestí – the spot where five different paths are crossing. About 600 m uphill from Pěticestí you can turn to the right on a tiny path to see renovated Kunštátská kaple. We saw bikers arriving on red marked tourist path there, but they obviously did not enjoy their ride… so you rather come back to the mapped road.

So this ride uses very reasonable roads and you would not need a mountain bike. However, it was about 43 km with a lot of ups and downs with total ascent of 953 m. Our batteries did handle it quite well, but to be sure that we will not run out, we switched batteries in about half way through (Polly is lighter and therefore uses less electricity).

https://en.mapy.cz/s/poherozeze

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