ADRŠPACH ROCK CITY - Czech Republic

ADRŠPACH ROCK CITY - Czech Republic
Among the highest rock towers in the Czech Republic
One of the most interesting landscapes of the Czech Republic, and indeed of the whole of Central Europe, are the rock towns located near the villages of Adršpach and Teplice near the Polish border, which are made up of gigantic sandstone towers and rock bastions. The Czech name of the rock paradises hidden in the extensive pine forests is quite tongue-in-cheek, Adršpašsko-Teplické skály, which is the most popular hiking destination in the Broumovsko landscape protection area. Of the two rocky areas not far from each other, the one next to Adršpach (Adersbach) is the more visited and, according to many, more spectacular, and the nature trail around it is also shorter.
The length of the tour: 3.5 km
Duration of the tour: 2 hours
Difference in level: 100 m up, the same down.
Starting point: Adršpach, a large paid parking lot on the edge of the village.
Nature of the tour:
An easy walk, interspersed with a few safe ladders, on well-marked tourist roads and paths, sometimes on narrow rock crevices. Do not take a larger backpack with you. In summer, in good weather, expect a large crowd on weekends, especially in late spring, when school groups flood the area.
Description of the tour
On the other side of the national road next to the parking lot, we go past the cafeteria line, then turn left on the walking path. We immediately come face-to-face with a rock tower, so characteristic of rock paradise, with a yellowish color, polished to a nice smoothness by erosion. We cross the tracks, buy the entrance ticket at the ticket office next to the gate leading to the rock town, the tourist office building is on the right.
The official name of the rock paradise is Adršpašské skalní mĕsto (rock city of Adrspachi), its German name is Adersbacher Felsen. Before 1945, the entire Broumov (Braunau) area was inhabited by German-speaking people, and the old rock-cut inscriptions visible in several places bear witness to the bygone era. The bizarre sandstone rock formations are the spectacular results of millions of years of erosion.
You can comfortably walk around the rock empire on the tourist trail marked with the Green lane, the trail consists of two parts, one goes around the picturesque Pískovná mine located right behind the entrance, a description and photos of this route can be found here, and the other trail connects the most beautiful parts of the rock city together as part of a tour. As we reach the shore of the idyllic lake, the comfortable, sandy path leading to the rock town turns to the right. Already here on the first section, we can see many interesting rock formations and towers, some standing right on the edge of the road, others in the pine forest.
Most of the rock formations have names born of fantasy, small signs indicate the most important ones. As we get further in, the sandstone towers multiply, from the entrance approx. After 300 meters we reach one of the most famous shapes, the Sugar Bottle, a little before that, the route branches in two directions, from here the circular tour starts. The official direction, the numbering of the rocks also follows this, it starts on the left side branch, however we recommend starting on the right side road, as most people follow the official direction and in case of a large crowd it is not very pleasant to drift with the groups or overtake them a larger company, and in the narrower parts a real queue can form. It is easier to go against the tide in this case.
Wheelchairs and strollers can only be used on the left branch for approx. to the waterfall 1 km away, after which steps and ladders make the route difficult.
Continue on the path that turns right, which will soon reach the edge of the forest, we will go past a charming meadow to a small house built against a rock, where we will turn left again into the forest. Our comfortable walking path reaches higher and higher rock towers, and then we climb a series of steps to a huge rock crater, from where we squeeze through a frighteningly narrow crevasse called the Mouse Hole. More steps and ladders follow, and soon we see the mayor and mayoress of the rock city, in the form of two gigantic rock towers.
A little further to the right, there is a small detour to the viewpoint called Nagy Panoráma. Returning to the main route, we descend into a cozy little valley, a few steps to the right we can take a detour to the Rock Chapel. Our path is sometimes a comfortable walking path, sometimes an adventurous trail consisting of steps, rocky sections, crawling through narrow canyons and crevices. At every turn, we can discover new towers, rock needles, bridges, and more and more bizarre shapes.
Finally, we reach a small area where the modest cascade of Maly vodopád cascades down a rock. At the fork in the road, it turns back, sharply to the left at the Green sign, which leads back to the entrance.