Adršpach Rock City

Rock FormationsBroumovsko, Hradec Králové Bölgesi,Czechia

Thousands of sandstone towers in northern Czechia that a forest fire uncovered in 1824, split by gorges so cold that mountain spruce grows on floors.

September·Edge of season

Sep–Oct

The summer crush eases and the pram keeps sailing to the end of October before it is pulled for winter; cool, bright walking with the surrounding forest turning while the gorge spruce stays green.

Year-round The sandstone towers, spruce-filled cold-air gorges and two lakes stand year-round, the one-way circuit ticketed daily but 24 December; boats, nesting falcons, the winter icefall and the cleared length of the loop shift by season.

Adršpach Rock City is a labyrinth of sandstone towers in the Broumov region of northern Czechia, near the Polish border, hundreds of pillars up to 80 metres high split by gorges so narrow and cold that mountain spruce grows on their floors, and it is walked on a circuit of boardwalks and stairways that a forest fire uncovered in 1824, when the flames burned off the trees and the rock city was seen whole for the first time. The towers are the remains of a plateau of Cretaceous sandstone cut by streams along its cracks into blocks, chimneys and needles, and tourists were coming before the rock city was really visible; the trail pushes between walls so close the sky shrinks to a bright strip overhead, and at the Mouse Hole the gap narrows to fifty centimetres, with the towers lined up against the sky and named one by one, the Lovers, at 81.4 metres the tallest, and the Sugarloaf, wider at the top than at its base. Nobody had stood on top of them until 1923, when a German climbing club worked out how to get up the crumbling sandstone. In the heart of the rocks a small lake is wedged between the walls, crossed in a flat-bottomed wooden punt with a boatman telling stories, the same crossing visitors have been making for more than 150 years, and the Great Waterfall of sixteen metres does not run on its own but is released by a sluice when the boatman opens it. At the entrance a flooded sand quarry, dug until 1971 and filled by groundwater, holds water so clear the stone shelves show through it. Peregrine falcons nest on the tower faces from late March to the end of June, when the path below the Cathedral Walls closes, and in winter the waterfall sets into a hanging icefall and snow fills the gorges, with the rocks open and far quieter. Adršpach is a city of stone that a fire revealed, and the gorges between its towers keep the cold.

Worth knowing

Good to know

Book a timed ticket online before you travel — daily numbers are capped and summer dates sell out; once the online allocation is gone, nothing is sold at the gate.
Be at the gate when it opens — the circuit runs one way, so a late start means shuffling through the narrow passages in a queue that cannot overtake.
Do not assume the Great Waterfall will be falling — the flow comes through a sluice from the lake above, so a dry cliff usually just means waiting for the next release.
Wet sandstone steps turn greasy — the gorge floors stay damp and shaded for days after rain, so wear shoes with real grip rather than smooth soles.
Adršpach and Teplice are two separate rock towns — most visitors only walk the Adršpach circuit, so the neighbouring Teplice loop keeps its towers and gorges far quieter.

Things to do

1
Walk the boardwalks into the cold gorges
The circuit runs on planking and stairways that push between walls so close the sky shrinks to a bright strip overhead; at the Mouse Hole the gap narrows to 50 centimetres. Step down into the gorge and the temperature drops with you — the cold air lying on the floor is why spruce grows down here and pine grows above.
2
Pick out the Lovers and the Sugarloaf
Towers line up against the sky, and the trail passes close enough to read them one by one: the Lovers, at 81.4 metres the tallest here, and the Sugarloaf, wider across the top than at its base. Look for the small pines rooted on the bare summits, and for climbers moving on the walls.
3
Look down on the flooded quarry lake
Sand was dug out of this hollow until 1971, then groundwater filled the pit and left water so clear the stone shelves show through it. From the trail the lake sits green against the grey towers, with the village and its meadows spread out beyond.
4
Cross the rock lake in a flat-bottomed pram
A wooden punt carries a handful of people across the small lake wedged between the walls — the same crossing visitors have been making for more than 150 years. It lasts only a few minutes, and the boatman talks the whole way while the rock throws his voice back.
5
Wait for the sluice at the Great Waterfall
The Great Waterfall does not run on its own. The lake above is held back by a sluice, and when it opens the water drops 16 metres into the gorge in a single burst. Come in deep winter and the whole fall has set into a column of ice.

Watch

Nearby

133 km