Cycling Trip 1 - To the Highest Peak of Žďárské Vrchy
- Jan Marcaník
- 4 days ago
- 3 min read
For all of those who want to visit the UCI MOUNTAIN BIKE World Cup in Nové Město na Moravě, but apart from cheering to pros also want to ride their bikes and get to know the surroundings of the famous Vysočina Arena, we asked the local tourism office Koruna Vysočiny and they prepared a series of 3 nice MTB trips around the region.
Route GPX: https://mapy.cz/s/kanutekopa
Suitable for: gravel bikes, MTB
Length: 40 km
Elevation gain: 660 m
Route: Vysočina Arena, Tři Studně, Kadov, Milovy, Devět skal, Žákova hora, Brožova skalka, Tři Studně, Vlachovice, Vysočina Arena
This forty-kilometer route suitable for gravel or mountain bikes begins at the Vysočina Arena in Nové Město. It first heads to the nearby Koupaliště pond, a popular swimming lake during summer, then climbs through the Ochoza forest, which is interwoven with singletrack trails of the Cykloarena Vysočina. These offer five levels of difficulty, and riders of all abilities can find a suitable trail - from children and beginners to experienced riders who prefer steep descents or jumps.
The route climbs up to the two highest-situated ponds in the Vysočina region, which in summer also attract visitors with their clean water, regularly checked by hygienists during the main season. The romantic Sykovec pond is surrounded by forests, and on the shore of Medlov pond lies the remarkable Hotel Medlov with its two sections. The 90-year-old functionalist building from the First Republic era connects to a half-century-old structure built in the so-called Brussels style. The hotel restaurant serves both overnight guests and other visitors, and the surrounding park with its fairy tale path and rope park for children is freely accessible.
Following the yellow tourist trail, the route continues to Kadov. This small village with a significant ironworking history is also known for its special herbal liqueur "Kadovánek," which has been offered at the local pub U Janečků for more than thirty years. The green trail then leads into the heart of the Žďárské vrchy - hills covered with forests, from which rocky peaks occasionally emerge, with scattered settlements of whitewashed Horácko cottages or timbered houses below. Don't miss refreshments at U Kolouška near the Drátenická rock formation popular with climbers, where they produce another special "vánek" liqueur - in this case, "Drátovánek" - and also unique views of the undulating landscape with forests, meadows, and fields divided by hedgerows.
The route continues toward Milovský pond, which also offers excellent swimming in summer. Through forests, you'll bypass Devět skal (Nine Rocks), at 836 meters above sea level the highest peak of the Žďárské vrchy and, after the one-meter-higher Javořice in the Jihlavské vrchy, the second-highest point of the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands. The path then descends to the parking lot below Lisovská rock, continues along the road to Rumpolt's pond with rest areas, and then forest paths lead you into close proximity to the Silver Spring (Stříbrná studánka), the place where the Žďárské vrchy Protected Landscape Area was declared in 1970 by then-president Ludvík Svoboda.
Around the unique primeval forest on Žákova hora, which has been protected for almost a hundred years, you'll get through the forest to the foot of Fryšavský hill. Before heading to the summit, take a short detour to the spring of the Svratka River. It's a peat pool hidden in thickets just off the path, and the water emerging from here ends its 174-kilometer journey at the Novomlýnské reservoirs, where the Svratka flows into the Dyje. Fryšavský hill, where a monument to the Master Jan Hus partisan brigade that operated in the area during World War II stands, also features a replica of a partially earth-embedded partisan bunker and is one of the seventeen 800-meter peaks of the Žďárské vrchy.
A forest path will then lead you under Brožova skalka, featuring three twenty-meter-high gneiss rock blocks with a stream of boulders and scree at the foot, all the way to Tři Studně. This picturesque village became a popular recreational area with the clean Sykovec pond at the beginning of the 20th century, attracting primarily people from Brno or Prague, often from artistic circles, for their "summer residences." Today, you can see, for example, the miniature European Union Square, which was declared the "smallest square in the world" in 2004. Children are particularly attracted to two more of the numerous concrete sculptures by Žďár artist Michal Olšiak. These are the wild man "Pepin" standing at the Zátiší guesthouse and the three-meter "Káně" (Buzzard) in the grounds of the Horník hotel. On the way to nearby Vlachovice, you'll face the last climb on the route, from there it's all downhill through the Ochoza forest to the Vysočina Arena.
