One of our followers pointed out that we were ignoring one of the areas of Czech Republic which he considers as a “must go” which was Český Les (Czech forest). We really hadn’t visited this area on the western border with Germany before. And, yes, we were surprised. It is as pretty as Šumava National Park, but with far less tourists and bikers.
We started our ride from Lesná, a small village west of Tachov. Even though part of our ride was on a regular road, we did not see more than two cars. On the forest roads from 2 to 11 we did not meet anybody! Most of the ride was in the area which was not accessible to Czech citizens during the communist regime – the government was paranoid about the people escaping to “the west”. One of the reminders of these times are the dilapidated barracks of the border protection unit Rota Vašíček at point 4. It definitely feels a bit eerie on a cold cloudy day.
If you decide to make a little side trip (very steep) from 6 to 7 you can climb to the watch tower (known as Havran) which was used to monitor the German side of the border. Half way up to the top of this construction is an exhibit showing various ways people were trying to cross the border to freedom – everything from home made tanks to balloons made from raincoats. A part of the barbed wire “border before the border” construction is also preserved there.
At point 10 try not to miss the lizard carved out from the boulder next to the road on the left. It is a pretty impressive piece of work.
https://en.mapy.cz/s/jalukecoza 32 km, 526 m elevation gain. To see this E-bike trip in context, check our interactive maps. For other non-English version of this page click the green box at the bottom.
I am that follower.😉 Sorry we missed that nice stone lizard. But what we did not miss is the riding hall in Svetce https://www.jizdarna-svetce.cz/virtualni-prohlidka.html. Go back to 4 km west from Tachov!