Length of route 27 km

Pelhřimov – Olešná – Chvojnov – Rybníček – Rohův mlýn – Žirov – Strměchy – Horní Strměchy – Plevnice – Chválov Pelhřimov

The last route I‘m off ering you is the shortest, but it really does go through some beautiful highland destinations. For those of you who can read a map and don’t mind a longer hike than this, you can leave this route at Žirov and take a detour through Zachotín – Mysletín – Dudín – Polánky – Vyskytná – Branišov – Kamenicko – Horní Strměchy. You won’t be disappointed.
Again, you should start your trip at Pelhřimov’s Masarykovo Square, from which you should follow the red hiking route towards Sedlická přehrada (reservoir). After passing the Zlaté české ručičky (Golden Czech Hands) exhibition and still in the town, you will cross the bridge over the stream Bělá. Right after the bridge, follow the red markings left but then immediately after that turn right onto the narrow street. When you arrive at the crossroads with the larger road, turn right and head uphill and after a while you will arrive at the Pelhřimov – Humpolec A-road. Turn left onto this road and after a short distance, the main road will turn left and you should turn right onto the little road along the hospital fence. This will lead you out of the town past garden allotments. Past the fi rst allotments, continue in the same direction towards the next group of allotments, but don’t go through them. Just before you reach them, turn left onto the dirt road. Follow this road up the hill and shortly after reaching the top, when you see the dilapidated St Anne’s chapel, turn onto the dirt road going right. After a while, this road will begin to head downhill and you will arrive at a stream where you turn right and follow the stream. You will then fi nd yourself in meadows. Get yourself ready and jump over the stream and continuing in the same direction as the dirt road, cross the meadow until you get to a fi eld in front of which you can see a path. Turn left onto this path and when you arrive at the cusp of a wood and the countryside opens out in front of you to give you a view to the faraway peak of Melechov (708 m above sea-level) above Ledeč nad Sázavou, turn right onto the dirt road which will lead you to the village of Olešná (shop available for refreshments).
In the centre of the village of Olešná (4.5 km), turn left onto the main road from Pelhřimov to Jihlava and at the edge of the village turn off the road left up the little road going uphill. Don’t forget to admire the views as you go up, as the majestic Křemešník peak (765 m above sea-level) looks beautiful from here. After a while the road joins the yellow hiking trail, which you should follow. It will lead you to the village of Chvojnov (6.5 km) with its picturesque chapel dating to 1296 and then past the village you will go up through fi elds to woods at the top of Pavlíčkova hill. On arrival at the wood, the yellow trail you have been following turns left up to the peak, but you should go straight on using the other path. You may however wish to follow the yellow markings up to the water tower at the top of the hill, as there is a wonderful view over the whole of Pelhřimovsko, ringed by three peaks (Křemešník 765 m, Stražiště 744 m and Svidník 739 m). Once you’ve taken the view in, go back to the crossing and continue as stated previously. This path leads you around the wood to the settlement of Rybniček (8.5 km). When you see the village in front of you, you will join a tarmac road going in the same direction. This takes a sharp right turn in front of the village and although the village is straight in front of you, take a left along the dirt road. On this side of Pavlíčková hill, the countryside starts to take on a diff erent character – more valleys, meadows, the occasional enchanting village… Go along this dirt road to the wood where you will join up with the yellow hiking trail, which will take you to Rohův mlýn (Mill). If you’re not sure which path to take in front of the wood, choose the one which goes more left. Rohův Mlýn is a romantic building hidden in the middle of woodland (10 km). The yellow markings will lead you along a narrow footbridge over the Kopaninský stream and a couple of metres further turn away from the trail in the opposite direction to that the yellow marking points you in. The path will lead you up a gentle hill to the village of Žirov. Before reaching the village (and already on a road) Stružiště and Křemešník peaks become visible in a gap between hills.
Continue on the road through the village of Žirov(12 km) and around the small villages of Kocourovy and Jelcovy Lhotky to the village of Strměchy (15 km), where you can have a break in the pub which you arrive at if you turn left off your road at the village square. Before reaching Strměchy, you get a great view over the ever-closer Křemešník and the valley on your left with its ponds of Dolní Kladiny and Horní Kladiny. The road will take you through Strměchy and continue straight on after crossing the main Pelhřimov – Jihlava road, following a narrow road which leads uphill to the little settlement of Horní Strměchy. On arriving at the edge of this village (16.5 km), the road turns left and you should turn right here onto the dirt road. This will take you to woods, where you should remember to take If you have enjoyed your wanderings in the countryside around Pelhřimov, visit the town website at www.pelhrimovsko.cz, where under the link ‘Turistické programy’ (Tourist/Hiking programmes) you can use the ‘Plánovač tras’ to plan your own hike using any number of marked hiking trails. The resulting itinerary, which includes a map, route description and distances, can be printed out. (in Czech only) a look back, as there is another wonderful view here over the countryside. After a while, the path turns into the wood, then out again and then in once again. When you go into the wood for a second time, turn onto the dirt road going right. This road leads downhill with views over the rolling countryside to the village of Plevnice (20 km). Here you should turn left at the village square onto the road which runs between the chapel and the pond, and after you pass the last house in the village, you should turn right onto the dirt track. This path will take you over the hill around Úlehle up to the road from Řemenov to Olešná. Turn right onto this road and after a while turn off into the centre of the adjacent settlement of Chválov (23 km). At the end of the village, the road becomes a dirt track, and when it divides into two paths, take the one going right to the woods. Go through the wood and at the other side you will see the main Jihlava – Pelhřimov road. You have no option here, you have to turn left onto this road and after a while you will drop down into the centre of Pelhřimov. Continue straight on at the fi rst lights, turn right at the second and then the next left which will take you to Masarykovo Square, where you began your journey and where it comes to an end (27 km). In Pelhřimov at the end of your journey, you again have plenty of good refreshment options open to you or you can visit some of the tourist sights here.