This was one of our favorite rides in Šumava. Starting from Kvilda, going through Modrava, along Modravský potok to the top of Šumava and along the border to Knížecí Pláně. Starting from the parking in Kvilda you can join the yellow tourist mark basically following the asphalt road. It is a much bumpier ride, but no competition with cars passing by. Unfortunately, the yellow mark was turning away from the road at the point where following it seemed too tricky. After joining asphalt, you enjoy the long ride down to Modrava. (If you did not bring your bike, you can rent one from Modrava’s rental shop, one of our supporters. They will have the E-bike for you, and if you mention our blog, you may expect a rental discount.) Just before you turn to ride uphill at point 2, you may have a beer at the restaurant “U tří sluk“. Riding along Modravský potok may entice you to sit down and meditate at its banks listening to its bubbly noises. Up to point 3, you may contemplate the fact that nature decided to come back with a bang – the forests around here were devastated by the invasion of bark beetle, but in the middle of the dead forest is already a very visible new generation of trees taking over the insect’s destruction.
If you need to cut your trip short, point 4 is an ideal place to make that decision and take a blue tourist mark back to Kvilda. But if you do that, you would miss the opportunity to visit a sample of an “iron curtain” at Bučina (point 6, see our earlier post) and after a nice long downhill ride have an excellent beer “Březí koza” at Knížecí Pláně. After that, a long ride through a dense forest will bring you back to Kvilda.
https://en.mapy.cz/s/nebecuvaku 39.2 km, 700 m elevation gain. To see this ride in context, check our interactive maps.