Kladská Peat Bog

From the former hunting lodge built by Prince Schönburg-Waldenburg, in the midst of peaceful spruce forests, an educational nature trail leads along wooden walkways which skirt an idyllic lake. The trail passes through the Kladská Peat Bog nature reserve with its abundant flora and fauna.

Visitors can also see the neighbouring Kyselé Jezero with one of the most acidic drainage areas in Europe as well as a park containing the crypt the hunting lodge's founder and stylish buildings and forest gardens.

You can reach Kladská by foot, bike, bus or car.

This trail has been in operation since September 1977. The walkway begins at the road connecting Kladská and Prameny (250 meters from the Kladská hunting lodge, heading towards Prameny) and the entire length of the trail is 1.6km. There are plenty of rest areas and lookout spots along the way. The end of the trail is equipped with a handicapped-accessible ramp for wheelchairs. The walk along the trail requires no special clothing and is not difficult.

A stroll through Kladská

Pure and practically undisturbed nature – this is the countryside around Mariánské Lázně, Lázně Kynžvart, Kladská, Prameny, and the wider surroundings. This area within the Slavkovský Forest Protected Landscape Area has plenty to offer visitors. Deep forests full of beautiful spots and evergreen trees with boughs reaching to the ground surround you on all sides.

History of Kladská

Prince Schönburg-Waldenburg must have certainly felt the positive energy here when he came to Lázně Kynžvart in the late 19th century to enjoy some hunting in the local forests. The landscape, with its meadows extending down to the lake, surrounded by forests and marshes, spoke to him so clearly that he had a chalet built here in 1875. Five more such chalets had been built by the end of the century, now forming a large part of the settlement. Thus was founded the tradition and reputation of Kladská. During the prince's time here this was the second largest deer forest in Bohemia. Today, it is a less well-known state hunting area.

However, before the prince arrived, the area known as Kladsko appears in the records much earlier. An altitude of 820m above sea level and its dozens of small ponds meant it was predetermined to become part of the area's early industrial development. Mining was developing in the Slavkovsko area at the time, and because there wasn't sufficient water at the mines for washing out the ore, the Dlouhá Stoka (Long Canal) was built between 1531 and 1536. This channel took water from the Kladsko pond system and brought it to Krásno and Horní Slavkov. Its length and method of construction made it a remarkable piece of engineering for its time. The channel itself is 24km long, and it has a drainage network of no less than 30km long. Some 2m wide, it connected 52 ore mills, flowed under 35 bridges with its flow was assisted by 14 sluices. The Long Channel still exists today though it is no longer a functioning system.