Discover Šumava

What makes Šumava distinctive

Šumava is not Alpine in character. Its relief is older and broader: rounded summits, high plateaus, long forested slopes and only a few places where glacial cirques cut sharply into the mountain edge. That is why walking around Kvilda or Modrava can feel like crossing a cold upland table, while Železná Ruda and Špičák place you closer to steep lake basins and ski infrastructure.

Water gives the region much of its structure. Peatlands store it on the high plateaus, the Vydra and Křemelná cut it into rocky valleys before forming the Otava, and the upper Vltava spreads it through wet valley landscapes in the south. The same forested mountain system therefore produces very different ground underfoot: dry beech slopes, wet spruce forest, raised bog boardwalks, boulder rivers and lakes below cirque walls.

The emptiness of parts of Šumava is also historical, not simply natural. Settlement, glassmaking, timber floating and farming opened the mountains; after 1945, displacement, military zones and the Iron Curtain removed many villages from the border landscape. Some places that appear remote today are recent forests growing over former fields, roads and foundations.

Understanding Šumava

Šumava is a mountain region, not simply a national park.

In Czech usage, Šumava can mean the wider Bohemian Forest mountain region, the Šumava Protected Landscape Area, or the National Park itself. The National Park protects the most valuable Czech core; the Protected Landscape Area forms a wider belt around it; to the west the same forested massif continues into Bavarian Forest National Park, and the southern edge runs toward Austria and Lipno. The map below is intentionally schematic: it is meant for orientation, not trail navigation.

The landscapes that define Šumava

The same mountain system produces four very different walking environments. Understanding them makes route choice easier than starting with a list of places.

• Forests: Šumava forest changes with altitude, soils and water. Lower and better drained slopes can carry beech and mixed forest; colder high ground is dominated by mountain spruce; wet and peaty places hold waterlogged spruce and bog woodland. The park also contains forests heavily altered by former timber use, so dead wood, bark-beetle disturbance and regeneration are not a simple story of damage or wilderness. They are visible stages in different management regimes and natural processes.
• Peatlands: Peatlands are fundamental to Šumava because they store water in the cold uplands. The central plateau contains raised bog systems such as Jezerní slať; valley peatlands occur in wetter river landscapes, including the upper Vltava area. For visitors, this usually means boardwalks, open wet surfaces, dwarf vegetation, dark pools and abrupt transitions into spruce forest. The important point is hydrological: these places regulate water, preserve specialised habitats and explain why apparently gentle terrain can be fragile.
• Glacial lakes: Šumava’s glacial lakes are not scattered evenly through the whole region. They occupy former cirques carved during Pleistocene mountain glaciation, mostly along higher margins of the massif. Černé jezero and Čertovo jezero define the Železná Ruda and Špičák side; Prášilské jezero and Laka belong to the Prášily sector; Plešné jezero lies below the southern high ground near Plechý. Their rarity is what makes them powerful orientation points.
• Rivers and valleys: The river system explains why neighbouring walks can feel unrelated. The Vydra cuts down from the Modrava area through a boulder-filled forest valley; the Křemelná drains another part of the western massif, and together they form the Otava. In the south, the upper Vltava moves through broader wet valley landscapes around Stožec and Vltavský luh. A Vydra walk is enclosed, noisy and rocky; a southern Vltava walk is wider, wetter and slower.

Where to explore Šumava

Different parts of Šumava concentrate different combinations of the landscapes above. Choose the area by the kind of terrain and history you want to read on foot.

• Železná Ruda & Špičák: Glacial relief, steeper western slopes, major access infrastructure. This is the clearest Šumava area for walkers who want lake cirques and a more mountainous profile. Černé jezero and Čertovo jezero sit below steep forested walls, while Železná Ruda and Špičák bring railway access, ski slopes and heavier visitor infrastructure into the same landscape.
• Prášily: Large forest blocks, glacial lake access, border-zone history. Prášily sits in a sparsely settled forest landscape shaped by water, military history and post-war abandonment. Routes toward Prášilské jezero, Laka and Poledník move through a landscape where former villages, border control and ecological succession matter as much as the trees themselves.
• Srní & Vydra Valley: Incised river valley, boulder channel, forested slopes. Choose Srní and the Vydra if the river landscapes are the draw. The Vydra descends in a rocky channel below Modrava, with boulders, rapids and steep wooded slopes; near Čeňkova Pila it joins the Křemelná to form the Otava, so a short walk here explains much of Šumava’s western drainage.
• Modrava & Kvilda: High plateau, headwaters, peatlands, cold upland conditions. This is the strongest area for understanding central Šumava as a plateau landscape. Around Kvilda and Modrava, walking often means gradual gradients, cold air, spruce forests, headwater streams and peatland mosaics rather than summit drama. Jezerní slať and the Vltava headwaters make the hydrology visible.
• Kašperské Hory: Historic mining gateway, castle landscape, forest-meadow transition. Kašperské Hory belongs to the cultural edge of Šumava. Its identity comes from medieval gold-mining connections, Kašperk Castle, lower uplands and a mosaic of forest, meadows and roads leading toward the Otava foothill landscape. It is the right sector when the human landscape should be as visible as the forest.
• Stožec & Nová Pec: Upper Vltava wetlands, southern forests, Plechý and canal history. Southern Šumava is organised by the upper Vltava, Vltavský luh, deep forest and the move toward Lipno. Around Stožec and Nová Pec, the walking logic is less about one compact resort and more about wet valley landscapes, long forest approaches, Plešné jezero, Plechý and the Schwarzenberg Canal.

Before you choose a route

• Weather: Plateau weather is often colder, windier and less settled than town conditions suggest. A route around Kvilda or Poledník can feel very different from a lower forest-edge walk on the same day.
• Ground: Wet forest tracks, peatland margins, mud, snow and freeze-thaw cycles can change the real difficulty more than the distance alone. Boardwalk sections should also be treated as protected infrastructure, not shortcuts.
• Season: A summer walking route can become a winter navigation and surface problem. Early spring can leave snow, ice and saturated soil in shaded forest and high plateau areas.
• Protected areas: Access rules vary by zone and season. Use current National Park information, local signage and marked routes; do not assume that a visible track is open to walkers or cyclists.

Representative walks

1. Černé and Čertovo glacial lakes P-29 · 6.3 km · Železná Ruda

   From Špičácké sedlo, the route links Čertovo jezero and Černé jezero across their divide; it crosses a reserve where visitors must stay on marked paths.

2. Around Jezerní slať P-24 · 15.4 km · Horská Kvilda

   Around Jezerní slať: Moderate, with a few more sustained climbs. The route centers on bog ground and boardwalk sections. Start: Kvilda centre parking; about 15.4 km, around 4.5 h.

3. Vydra river valley P-10 · 7.4 km · Antýgl

   From Antýgl to Čeňkova Pila, the route follows the Vydra and passes Turnerova chata; the river shapes this valley walk.

4. Around Stožec mountain with views over Vltavský luh P-03 · 14.6 km · Stožec

   Around Stožec mountain with views over Vltavský luh: Accessible, with an easy-to-follow profile. The route follows a river valley where water shapes the terrain. Start: Stožec parking; about 14.6 km, around 3.5 h.