LOOKOUT TOWERS AND VIEWPOINTS
Look out over a landscape where the deep forests of the Český les merge into the Bavarian borderlands. The summits here, with their towers of stone and timber, offer incomparable panoramas across the wider region – on a clear day you can see as far as the Šumava or the Bavarian ridges. Discover our favourite viewpoints, all easily combined with a pleasant walk or a bike ride!
MILÍŘE
The lookout tower stands near the settlement of Milíře at an altitude of about 580 m. The third level of a mobile operator's transmitter mast, set at a height of roughly 25 m, offers the public a viewing platform that is accessible all year round. You can climb up to it by way of 126 steps.
If the weather is kind to you, the view will open up not only across the neighbouring German territory but also over the landscape of a large part of Český les, the Smrčiny and the Slavkovský les. You can pick out the military tower on Velký Zvon and the ruins of the stone castle on the Přimda hill, and study from above the nearby settlement founded at the end of the 18th century on the edge of the Přimda forests, on the site of the former manorial charcoal kilns, known back then, after neighbouring St Catherine, as Katharinerbranten.
You can set out for the lookout tower on a full-day walk (24 km there and back), or else by bike or comfortably by car as well. From Resort Český les it is a 25-minute drive, and there is a small space for parking by the tower. The lookout tower is built entirely as an iron structure with see-through profiled gratings. In fine weather it is open all year round with no time restrictions.
BĚLÁ NAD RADBUZOU
A lookout tower offering views over the panoramas of the Bohemian Forest was built in 2014 on the Pohořelec hill above the town of Bělá nad Radbuzou. In good weather you can also make out the peaks of the Šumava: Špičák, Ostrý and Velký Javor. It is 5 metres high. There is also a rest area here where you can have a picnic and, in sunny weather, watch a beautiful sunset over the town. You can drive close to the tower and park within sight of the transmitter, or park in the town itself and take a walk of about three kilometres. The tower has a wooden structure and, given its height, really is suitable for almost everyone. The viewpoint is open all year round without restriction.
EBENE / BÖHMERWALDTURM
The idea of building the Böhmerwald lookout tower goes all the way back to the era of the "Iron Curtain". At that time the inhabitants of the border region wanted at least a glimpse of the homeland from which they had been forcibly expelled. That was possible only from a makeshift wooden tower belonging to the federal border guard. The initiators of the project found support for their idea in the municipality of Stadlern. On 1 July 1984 the Böhmerwald lookout tower was ceremonially opened. On the Czech side the tower is usually referred to by the name Ebene.
After climbing 142 steps you find yourself at the highest point of the Schwandorf district, at an altitude of 898 m above sea level, where a magnificent view opens up over Český les, Šumava and the Bavarian Forest. The hill Velký Zvon with its military tower is impossible to miss, and on the opposite side we have a splendid view of Velký Javor near Železná Ruda.
The viewing floor is glazed and roofed, which is pleasant enough on colder days, but the glass at the same time makes photography considerably more difficult. The surroundings can be observed through the telescopes installed there.
A short way below the lookout tower an open-air panoramic cinema has also been created, where you really will find beautiful wooden cinema seats. It offers a place to rest, to have a snack and at the same time to take in the surrounding panoramas.
The lookout tower can be reached from Železná on foot (see our tips for walking trips), or you can drive round from the German side and park in the forest car park by the road halfway between the small towns of Weberhäuser and Stadlern. The spot is clearly marked on maps. From there an easy four-kilometre walk through the forest takes you up to the viewpoint. The drive from Resort Český les to the car park takes you 20 minutes. The forest path to the tower is very well signposted. The tower is built entirely of wood, stands 30 metres high and is open all year round, 24/7.
STÜCKBERG
A hidden treasure among the local lookout towers. You reach the tower on a short walk from the car park by Wild Park Eslarn, and it is well worth combining a visit there with the trip to the tower. Several routes lead to the top; the shorter ones are fairly steep, cutting straight across the contour lines and not always easy to walk, but for your comfort you can take the beautiful surfaced forest road, which helps you spread the effort of the climb over a longer distance by following the contours. This route is very well marked and runs, among other things, along a former ski slope. The length of the route ranges from 3 to 6 km.
The tower, standing at 809 m above sea level, was built in 1974 and newly renovated in 2018, and it will give you magnificent views over the Upper Palatinate. On summer days the great reward for the climb to the summit is the sunset, which can be watched from here. The viewing platform is glazed and also allows you to climb up to an open-air observation level. Below the tower there is a rest area with benches as well. The journey from Resort Český les to the car park takes 10 minutes by car, and from there a climb of roughly 50 minutes to the tower awaits you. True sports enthusiasts will manage the route even faster.
The tower's concrete structure with its wooden cladding makes the climb pleasant even for those who do not always cope well with heights. Do take care, however, on the outdoor viewing platform, which is made of metal profile grating. The tower is 34 m high and you climb 114 steps. It is open all year round without restriction.
LOOKOUT TOWER VYSOKÁ U TACHOVA
If you are planning a visit to Jízdárna Světce, do not forget to climb the hill Vysoká and the lookout tower that stands there. From Světce set off along the green waymarked trail. The gentle ascent leads you through deciduous woodland up to a small meadow with a concrete memorial recalling the Hussite battle near Tachov. Behind the memorial, above the trees, you can see the silhouette of the lookout tower, so you will certainly find your way without any trouble. A short distance from the tower there once stood a stone chapel, which had to give way to the communist regime, in which there was no room for buildings of that kind.
The second approach route starts from the small parking spot behind the Tachov sports grounds. It is less than a kilometre long, but all the more strenuous for it. Whichever option you choose, the journey from Resort Český les to the car park will take you about half an hour. Then, to look out over the surroundings, one last thing remains: to climb the spiral staircase of 150 steps up to the viewing platform, set 25 metres above the ground. Not for those of you who are uneasy with heights. The whole structure of the tower is very open, so you constantly see not only around you but also beneath you, which some people find hard to cope with. If you do make it up to the viewing gallery, though, you certainly will not regret the effort. The whole of Tachov lies spread out below you, and it has to be said that this is probably the very finest view of the town. Among the summits you will glimpse Vlčí hora, Přimda and Rozsocha. If your eyesight is good and you are lucky with the weather, you may even see Klínovec in the Krušné hory.
The lookout tower has a total height of 28 metres and is built as a steel tube with a spiral staircase winding around the outside. It is open all year round from 8.00 to 18.00.
LOOKOUT TOWER BELOW ŠIBENIČNÍ VRCH NEAR HORŠOVSKÝ TÝN
Not far from the town of Horšovský Týn, on Šibeniční vrch, where a chapel of Our Lady of Lourdes once stood, a lookout tower was built in 2010 that offers a perfect view of the town with its celebrated chateau as well as of the ranges of Šumava and Český les.
We recommend combining your visit with a tour of the chateau, for example. The trail from Horšovský Týn is 2.5 km long and is enhanced with entertaining play features designed for young visitors. You can drive all the way to the lookout tower; the journey from the Resort will take you 35 minutes. The tower also houses an exhibition of the Horšovský Týn regional museum, made up of information panels: Chapels around Horšovský Týn, Crosses and wayside shrines, Farmsteads, Mills and Pilgrimages.
Almost anyone can manage the climb up the 21.5-metre timber tower. The lookout is open all year round, 24 hours a day.
ČERCHOV – KURZOVA LOOKOUT TOWER
The stone tourist lookout tower on the summit of Čerchov, the highest point of the Český les at 1042 m above sea level, was built in 1905; Count Stadion took part in its construction together with the Czech Tourists' Club, the Domažlice savings bank, the town of Domažlice and many others. In memory of Dr. Vilém Kurz, the leading figure of the early days of the Czech Tourists' Club and one of the initiators of the tower, the lookout was given the name Kurzova. From 1938 onwards the tower was confiscated step by step, first by the German army, then by the SNB and finally by the Czech army, which built further military installations here. After long efforts the lookout tower was returned to the Czech Tourists' Club in 1999 and restored.
The Kurzova rozhledna lookout tower on Čerchov is 19 m high; the viewing gallery sits at a height of 16 m and 129 steps lead up to it. From the gallery the view opens northwards to Přimda, the Slavkovský les and the Doupovské hory, north-east to Plzeň, Radyně and the Brdy, and east to the nearby village of Pec pod Čerchovem, to Koráb, the South Bohemian basins and the Temelín nuclear power plant. To the south-east you can make out Dlouhá skála and other summits of the Český les and the Šumava, such as Velký Javor, Roklan, Luzný and Ostrý, while from the south round to the west the gaze reaches the German part of the Český les and the borderland. In exceptionally good visibility the Alps with the Dachstein can be seen to the south and the Krušné hory to the north.
The best way to reach the lookout tower is from the car park in Capartice, which is a 45-minute drive from Resort Český les. From there it is roughly 4 km on foot to the summit along a marked trail. Please note that the tower's opening hours vary.
HAVRAN
The lookout tower stands on the Havran hill at 895 m above sea level, which is also the highest point of the Tachov region. In good weather you can see Šumava, the Slavkovský les and occasionally even the Alps. Havran is a former radio-technical reconnaissance post of the Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Czechoslovak People's Army from the time of the Cold War. The first wooden tower was built around 1963. Between 1967 and 1972 it underwent a fundamental modernisation and a tower rose on the summit with a base of 8×8 metres and a total height of 46 metres. The tower contained not only rooms for antennas and receivers, but also an operations station, accommodation, a kitchen, a boiler room (in operation 300 days a year), garages and sanitary facilities. In the first years the soldiers could move freely along the border. The tower itself stood behind the Iron Curtain, which was guarded by the Border Guard.
During the Soviet occupation, on 31 August 1968, Sergeant Emil Chmelař deserted from Havran to the Federal Republic of Germany while on duty. After 1969 the movement of the soldiers was restricted. Following a further escape, that of First Lieutenant Síla from Dyleň in 1980, free movement outside the post was ruled out entirely. The soldiers were moved to Tachov and Mariánské Lázně, and their passage from the fence at Zlatý potok was closely watched by the Border Guard. After the Velvet Revolution the army found the Havran observation post surplus to requirements, and it was subsequently transferred into the ownership of the Tachov Club of Military History and Sports. After two years of preparation, the tower was repaired between May and November 2013 as part of the project "Conversion of the Havran observation post into a public lookout tower".
The lookout tower can be reached by bike or on foot from the village of Stará Knížecí Huť, which is about seven kilometres away. A roughly three-kilometre route leads from the nearby German village of Silberhütte, where parking is also easier. You will get there from Resort Český les in just under 40 minutes' drive. With an overall height of 24.4 metres, the tower has a metal structure and is open all year round without restrictions.
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