The Strange Beauty of the Adrspach-Teplice Rocks, Czech Republic

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People may not know this but the Czech Republic is home to some pretty incredible nature destinations. Through my visits, I’ve had the pleasure of seeing many of these spots. Honestly, the nature has become one of my favourite things about Czechia. While many have been wonderful forest areas, visiting Adršpach-Teplice Rocks Nature Reserve is something else entirely. An essential day trip from Trutnov, this scenic area is known for its incredible rock pillars or towers and the gorges they create.

Up by the border with Poland, the Adrspach Teplice rocks is not the kind of place you accidentally find. This means you’re going to want to plan and research a visit in advance. To help with that, I thought I’d share my experience hiking the Adršpach-Teplice Rocks. That way, you’ll know what’s in store for you.

Visiting the Adrspach-Teplice Rocks

The easiest place to start your visit to the Adrspach-Teplice Rocks is the nearby city of Trutnov. Around 10 kilometres from the rocks, you can use Trutnov as a base as you visit the nature reserve for the day.

Getting from Trutnov to the Adrspach-Teplice Nature Reserve is pretty straightforward as you just take one of the trains that leave for their every 2 hours. It’s a gentle train ride through pleasant countryside and lasts around 50 minutes to reach the Adršpach train station. The entrance fee for the nature reserve is 70 czk, with more information here.

Staying in Trutnov, you’ll find there is a pleasant amount of choice in terms of accommodation. I’d suggest staying at the Grand Luxury Hotel as it’s quite affordable and is really well located on the city’s main square.

Then there’s what you need to pack and bring with you while visiting Adrspach-Teplice Nature Reserve. The walks in the reserve aren’t overly difficult so you don’t need to bring hiking boots unless you want to. There’s also plenty of shade for much of the walks but wearing sunscreen is always smart.

The biggest thing I’d focus on is food and water, as while there are food stalls by the entrance gates, they can be busy and a little overpriced. Inside the park itself there’s no real place to buy food, except for a few people with stalls selling local treats.

Piskovna Lake Circuit

Upon entering the nature reserve, the first sight you really see is the gorgeous Piskovna Lake. With its turquoise waters and vibrant nature, this not a sight you expect to find in the Czech Republic. I personally picture somewhere like Canada or Alaska, which just makes this lake even more of a delight. The lake may not have formed naturally but it’s nevertheless gorgeous.

Running around the lake is a circuit trail that is the gentlest walk you’ll find in the nature reserve. You won’t really see any of the iconic rock formations that Adršpach-Teplice is famous for, but it’s worth it nonetheless. As you go you’ll stop in at the little beaches and have to climb one small slope for the best lake views. Allow 15-20 minutes to slowly do a lap and you’ll be fine. You can either start your visit with the walk here or leave it until the end like I did, choice is yours.

The Big Loop – Eastern Side

Having passed the lake, it’s time to set out on the main trail of the Adrspach-Teplice Rocks. Whether it’s actually called the “Big Loop” or not I’m not sure but that’s how I remembered it as. The bulk of the interesting Adrspach Rocks in the so-called “rock town” are find along this loop, making it a must for visitors. Typically, visitors walk the Big Loop in a clockwise direction which means taking the left path that follows the eastern side of the loop.

This stretch of the path is nice and easy, with the path slowly winding through taller and taller pillars of rock. You really don’t have to walk far here to be impressed by the strange rock formations that this park is famous for. It was along these early stretches that I encountered most of the tour groups I saw that day.

While it often meant trying to squeeze past the slow moving packs, I was able to eavesdrop occasionally and listen to their guides. Plenty of rocks here are named after things they look like, although I’ve forgotten what the guides said.

The scenery here changes quite drastically once you reach the popular spot known as the Gothic Gate. This man-made gate sits wedged between tight rock walls and marks the entrance to narrow gorges through the “rock town”.

More of a labyrinth than anything, you now follow boardwalks that squeeze through the moss-encrusted walls of these monolithic rocks. The rippled walls here are pretty fantastic, when you get up close to admire their details. Occasional gaps in the gorge let you see more enchanting towers of rock looming above you as well.

There comes a point where you can continue around the Big Loop or keep heading south. Definitely take the left option again to the south, as it’s not all that far and worth the walk. Besides seeing more of the forest and rocks, the path will also take you to the reserve’s two waterfalls. Creatively named the “large waterfall” and “small waterfall”, they weren’t particularly heavy waterfalls, but the open-air caves they’re in are pretty atmospheric.

Wolf Gorge

Leaving the Big Loop behind for the moment, set up the stairs to the boat tours. The idea of the boat tour didn’t appeal to me, so I can’t tell you more on that I’m afraid. Instead though, pass the stairs down to the boat tour on your left and keep climbing. Going up and down the other side of this long narrow staircase is what it takes to enter the far less busy part of the nature reserve, Wolf Gorge.

When you first get down the stairs, what stands before you is a wide open valley clearing. It’s yet another side to the Adrspach-Teplice Rocks, one that takes you through various different environments. While at first you’re on a boardwalk through a clearing, you’ll later pass through serene forests and even peat marshes. You won’t find as many interesting rocks here but there are some that form a ridge on the northern side of the path.

Beyond the initial steep set of stairs to reach the gorge, most of the trails here are pretty flat making it ideal for a stroll. Heading generally in the direction of the town of Teplice nad Metují, the trail goes for about 2 to 2.5 km to the town, but there are side trails.

If I have one regret from my time visiting the Adršpach-Teplice Rocks it’s that I didn’t really get to see much of the Teplice Rocks. Having followed Wolf Gorge almost the entire length to Teplice nad Metují, I came across a sign pointing across the river to the Teplice Rocks.

Now, I’d been walking quite some time at this point and had no clue how far these rocks were. In hindsight, I had time to explore and the Střmen castle ruins aren’t even that far from trail I was on. By the looks of it, the Teplice Rocks are worth the extra walk, you just need to know that they’re there. But alas, at this point I turned around and headed back to where I entered Wolf Gorge.

The Big Loop – Western Side

Once you’ve made your way back to the start of Wolf Gorge, it’s time to complete the Big Loop. You’ll notice that the trails suddenly become busier again but there is one difference. Unlike most of the day so far, this section is not flat. In fact, it involves a hell of a lot of stairs to climb. It may not be fun, but there is a reward at the end of all those stairs.

Most of the day you’ve been looking up at the rock towers. Now from the viewpoint you get to look out across them and change your perspective. Here you’ll find more of the reserve’s viewpoints and I have to say they’re pretty special.

From the top here, it’s a lot more stairs to climb down. While nobody likes going down endless stairs, but the experience changes when you have to squeeze through a crack in the rock. I couldn’t tell you exactly how wide this little stairway is but I could barely fit walking down normally. To make this narrow path even cooler, barely any light reaches the middle part of the stairs. It feels like you’ve so you suddenly feel like you’ve stumbled into a tunnel.

More Photos of the Adršpach and Teplice Rocks

Now that you have an idea of the best route to visit Adrspach-Teplice, how about some more photos? Your visit could easily grind to a halt with the number of photo opportunities there are here. So here are just other photos from this beautiful nature reserve that I like.

Have you ever heard of the Adrspach-Teplice Rocks before? Do you enjoy visiting strange natural phenomenon like this? Have you maybe even seen something similar somewhere else? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.