Heart of South Moravia Trail to Jewels of Blansko and Vyškov Regions
Route tracking:
Blansko - Skalní mlýn - Punkevní jeskyně - Pustý žleb - hotel Břoušek - Ostrov u Macochy - Balcarka - Vilémovice - Rudice - Jedovnice - Ruprechtov - Opatovická přehrada - Dědice – VyškovCharacteristics:
The picturesque cycle trail connects towns of Blansko and Vyškov through the massif of the Drahanská vrchovina hills, the most beautiful places of the Moravian Karst and Vyškov region. The trail runs along marked cycle trails and tourist paths and its profile makes it suitable for less capable cyclists. The whole trail is equipped with 11 information boards accompanying the points of interest. The trail has its own internet portal www.srdinko.cz and a printed guidebook available in any tourist information centre along the way.Route parameters:
| Route difficulty: | Turista |
|---|---|
| Length: | 53,7 km |
| Choosing the right bicycle: | Krosové |
| Tourist area: | Moravský kras a okolí |
| Maximum / minimum altitude: | m.s.l. / m.s.l. |
| Total elevation: | m |
| Total of vertical meters ascended: | m |
Description:
We start the 50-km trail through natural beauties of the Moravian Karst and Drahanská vrchovina hills in Blansko, directly at the Tourist Information Centre Blanka, where the first trail information board is installed. The information boards are to be found at any more significant point of interest along the trail. The trail is marked by its own logo “Srdínko”, which is the symbolic guide. Although the trail generally runs along marked cycle trails, twice it takes its own way to connect non-marked sections into one trail.
If you prefer not to look round more or less modern Blansko, or in case you know the main points of interests – a chateau and a small wooden church from Carpathian Ruthenia, you may take the local cycle trail 5117 to the south, out of the town centre towards the main road between Blansko and Vyškov. The road is also a gate to the Moravian Karst past Hotel Skalní Mlýn, although at first we have to ride through a rather unpleasant complex of Blansko steel mills.
Past Hotel Skalní mlýn at the confluence of Pustý and Suchý žleb, two main karst valleys in this part of the Moravian Karst, the trail takes us upstream of the river Punkva through longer and more rugged Pustý žleb. Past this point the road is only for cyclists and occasionally passing small tourist train transporting tourists to Punkva caves. The karst valley sides get closer to each other when we ride past the famous Punkva caves with a boat pier for underground boat cruises. And past a cabin lift to Macocha abyss, the crowds of tourists as well as the underground river disappear. Long and narrow, the winding forest valley of Pustý žleb, whose slopes house dozens of caves, is a real karst paradise abruptly opening up to meadows at its northern end at a sight of white cliffs of Sloup-Šošůvka caves, a distinct solitary rock Hřebenáč, and a pilgrimage site Sloup.
Our trip turns abruptly and we ascend through the karst landscape to a bit underrated Ostrov u Macochy, which is located just at the sight of Macocha abyss. The village is dominated by a windmill and a deep valley where we head for from the village centre. The valley is at the upper end of Suchý žleb, which is full of cave portals like Emmentaller cheese. The most well-known is Balcarka cave, often considered the most beautiful in the Moravian Karst. Our trip runs just past this cave and you can see its beauty yourself.
Behind Balcarka cave, we climb along the road to Vilémovice, a native village of many important people active in the karst exploration. The attic of the local authority building houses a small speleological museum presenting the demanding and beautiful exploration work of the “enthusiasts under ground”. In Vilémovice, we leave the asphalt road for the first time following the red trail, taking a short cut through the Harbechy karst plateau to Rudice. Its windmill, visible from a far, houses another small, this time mineralogical, exhibition, which exceeded its exhibition area and changed the nearby area into a geo-park presenting geological diversity of the region. The most important point of interest – Rudice Sinkhole – is better to be visited on foot and the access to the cave itself is only possible with a guide on appointment for a hefty sum.
Rudice marks the end of our trip in the Moravian Karst because the nearby Jedovnice lies in the forested south-eastern part of the Drahanská Vrchovina. We cycle on an asphalt road along the right
The village is only a short interruption on our passage through deep Drahany forests, because the trail plunges along a field and forest road into the forests above the Malá Haná valley flooded by Opatovice reservoir. We descend from the uplands through Kateřinské valley, passable with difficulties in bad weather and on muddy terrain. At the end of Kateřinské valley, we leave the brook flowing nearby into Opatovice reservoir, take a demanding, but short, climb, and at the top of the climb on the left we may see an information board U Ježkovic.
With occasional views, we ride along the right shore of Opatovice reservoir filling up the narrow winding forest valley. Since the reservoir is used for drinking water for Vyškov region, its romantic atmosphere is all we can admire as we need to leave any ideas for swimming to
Recommended visits:
Blansko: chateau – Moravian Karst museum, wooden Czechoslovak Hussite church
Punkva caves, cabin lift to the upper viewpoint of Macocha abyss
Sloup: pilgrimage
Vilémovice: speleological museum
Rudice: windmill with mineralogical exhibition, geo-park
Jedovnice: swimming in Olšovec lake
Ruprechtov: windmill, village house with a thatched roof
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