In our trip to South Bohemia this winter, we were dying to check out the Sumava National Park region. A combination of it being winter and the rural location made getting there tricky. But in the end we found a way to make it work. With Cesky Krumlov as our base, we managed to do this 15 km day hike in the Sumava National Forest in one day with public transportation.
Cesky Krumlov
The train station in CK is about a 20 minute uphill walk from the city center. Don’t fret, we were rewarded for our hard walk uphill (lol! I’m writing a post about hiking and complaining about the walk to the train station!). At a little over half of the journey to the station is an amazing look out point with a great view of the old town and the castle in all its glory. Good thing being late for the train stresses me out, otherwise I would have been there much longer snapping pictures.
Cesky Krumlov is a very popular destination in the Czech Republic, even if you haven’t heard of it. Many tour companies offer just a day trip to the city, but the castle and setting is enticing enough to flock tourists from all over the world into the tiny old town for the afternoon. This influx of visitors has at least done the train station a load of good. It nearly sparkles with its shiny newness. The trains themselves have benefited too. It was toasty warm when we embarked and there were so many places for bicycles that my eyes nearly popped out of my head. Taking your bike on the train in Germany can be a nightmare, but it looks like much of the problem is relieved on these trains.
Medvědí Stezka
That’s the name of this hike in Czech, and in German it is called “Bärensteig” or the bear hike. The reason for this name is because the trail passes by the Medvědí Kámen, “Bärenstein”, or bear stone. The stone commemorates a 15 year old female bear who on November 14th, 1856 was the last bear shot in the Bohemian Forest. This tragic spot is just one of many interesting sites on the hike.
Arrival in Ovesná
This hike is easily done in one day because there is a direct train from Cesky Krumlov to Ovesná. We were happy to see some of the Lipno Reservoir on our train journey, considering we wanted to visit some hard to reach villages nearby. The train did not stop at all the stations we passed through. Only if someone was waiting on the platform or if passengers were standing by the exit would the train stop. The new-fangled cars have cameras by the door for the driver to monitor if someone wants to depart.
In Ovesná, we were not the only ones to disembark – a family got off as well. We expected to see them on our hike, but they only reappeared on our train journey home. This felt strange because the train seemed to drop us off in the middle of nowhere. If Ovesná was a town or a village, it was not visible from the train station or on our hike.
Navigation
Starting from the station, we saw signs for our hike – a horizontal yellow stripe on a white background. The navigation is really foolproof the entire way. A few hundred meters from the train was an information board. I took a picture of the map (since we didn’t have one) and the emergency mountain rescue number (you never know!). The board also showed us the second trail marker for the hike was a diagonal green stripe with a bear on it. Technically this is the Bear Hike symbol and the yellow stripe is for the Gold Way which continues further in at both ends of the hike in the Sumava Forest.
Wonderful Surprises
At the start of our tour, the ground was dusted with a bit of snow. We were stoked since there hadn’t been any snow in Berlin yet this year. Soon we come to a giant boulder covered in big clumps of moss. And then another one. But this time it is a giant pile of rocks, which remind me exactly of the kind of Klippen you see in the Harz Mountains of Germany. They seem to fit ever so perfectly together, like someone had carved and curved them to nestle so nicely on top of one another.
The next set of boulders we come upon includes its very own sign. “Perníková Skala” it said with a painting on it identical to the shape of the rocks. The trail marker on the boulder indicated that we should crawl through the rocks to keep on hiking. I LOVE THIS! The rocks are not just on exhibit during the hike, but they are PART of the hike.
Snow and Trees
It has begun to snow and more and more was accumulating on the ground. Along the way we continued past (and sometimes through, over, and around) more formations accompanied by signs with their names on them. The snow kept on falling and began to cover the trees and the boulders, muting the sounds in the forest except for our crunchy footsteps.
Sometimes the snow covered the path so much that we had to really search for another trail marker. At other times, trees blocked the path. Some we crawled over, some I crawled under, and others we had to find another way around.
I began to see tracks in the snow. At first I thought it was a dog, but there were no human prints around besides the ones we were making. Then I thought it was maybe a fox. It was practically hiking the trail ahead of us. The tracks disappeared and reappeared. Was it the same animal? Or lots of different ones? Were they too big for a fox? Was it a wolf? There are no wolves in Germany, but there are still some in Czech, right? At least I know it wasn’t a bear. I don’t know what it was, but it didn’t eat us 😉
The Top
Starting in Ovesná at around 740m in elevation, we reached the highest point of our hike just before the halfway mark. Perník is the most elevated spot on the hike at 1049 m. There isn’t a view point or anything, just more snow and boulders.
Shortly after Perník, we arrived at a lake called Jelení Jezírko. The lake was frozen over enough to support a layer of snow over the top. It seemed strange to see such an open space after hiking through the forest. This was the first point on the tour where we met other hikers. The town of Jelení is about a kilometer from the lake and a popular spot for cross country skiing and hiking. Despite the recent snow that day, there wasn’t enough on the ground for skiing.
Medvědí Kámen
From Jelení, the hike becomes more relaxed. The trail follows the Loipen, or XC-ski trails, which are as wide as roads and relatively flat. The view opened up and we could see the nearby mountains. We reached a confusing sign which told us the yellow trail continues straight, but the Bear Hike goes left down the hill. C knew that this must be the spot! We followed the green diagonal stripe down the hill a hundred meters or so to find the Bärenstein – the bear stone. The date is hard to read but it unmistakably says “BÄRENSTEIN.”
Return
Back up the hill we rejoined the trail and continued on to Černý Kříž where we would catch the train back to Cesky Krumlov. Along the way we encountered the Schwarzenberg canal, presumably installed in the era of the Schwarzenbergs who had owned, lived in, or renovated nearly every castle we visited during our time in South Bohemia. In Černý Kříž we passed the train station so we could cross the tracks at the designated point and walked back towards it through the “village” with all of 3 buildings, including the hotel.
Loipen in Jeleni 
Schwarzenberg Canal
Since the train comes only every two hours, it was nice that the train station had a large covered area with picnic tables and benches. Two black cats guarded the table containing the popular board game “Mensch Ärgere Dich Nicht” and a deck of cards. One cat skipped off as we approached the table while the other one purred around our ankles. C taught me how to play the board game, which is very similar to Sorry! or Trouble. In the last seconds before the train pulled up, I got all my pieces into their “house” to win the game.
Basing our entire day off of a small paragraph in the guide book without a map or picture was a bit of a risk. But one that proved to be very worth it. I’m not sure if the Czech Republic designates premium hiking trails like Germany does, but I would say that the Bärenstieg is certainly worthy of the same ranks as the Schächerbach Tour. The trail was incredibly well-marked making it so easy for us to find our way. The unusual rock formations were a great surprise and fairy tale snow always helps to make the forest magical. I was on cloud nine after completing this hike. It left me thirsting for more of South Bohemia’s forests!
Here are some more hikes I love: this pair of sections of the 66-Lakes-Trail, this Sculpture Hike, and this one and this one on the Côte d’Azur