Day 77: The Prachov Rocks

JUNE 19 - Head to the train station for a 9:30 ride to Jinolice. These local train rides are on small carriages, just a couple cars. Very low key and quiet. The route twists southeast, with a line of hills to the south.

From the train, get a good view of Trosky Castle. These dramatically placed towers were built in the 14th Century, on top of two basaltic volcanic plugs (i.e. the eroded cores of ancient volcanos). They took part in various wars, finally being destroyed in 1648 during the Thirty Years’ War and never used again.

Off the train in Jinolace, which turns out to be an empty, one room train station. As we’ve come to expect in the Czech countryside, once the train disappears, its just rustling leaves and birdsong. Make our way through part of the town and on to the road leading to a nature preserve. Rather than walk along the road all the way, we deviate through some dirt roads that pass by a few lakes.

Walk through some wheat fields, this one had more than a few poppies.

A lot of RV’s and tents out for weekend camping. Some of the setups look more or less permanent, with an infrastructure of small shops and eateries.

Our destination turns out to be a long way in, and up a steep path. It is sort of marked, but I use my offline mapping app to make sure we aren’t getting completely off course. Eventually emerge on to another path that gets to the entrance of the Prachov Rocks.

A view from the top of one of the rock formations, down past the lakes we walked by, and the town of Jinolice in the distance.

The area of the rocks themselves show evidence of human settlement dating from the Bronze Age. The narrow passages act as natural defensive positions, which have factored into many battles starting from the 10th Century onwards. The last conflict fought in this area that I read about was when the Austrians tried to hold out in the passages during attacks by the Prussian army in 1866 (part of the Battle of Jičín in the Austro-Prussian War).

The Prachov Rocks are a sequence of sandstones, dating from the Mesozoic, that formed when this region was a massive delta system at the edge of an ocean basin. There has been no folding or tilting of the original strata, from what I could tell.

$I’m guessing that any tectonic activity here was restricted to a series of fractures. Over time, these were eroded into, creating a system of narrow chasms.$

I’m guessing that any tectonic activity here was restricted to a series of fractures. Over time, these were eroded into, creating a system of narrow chasms.

It was hot today out in the sun (33⁰ C), but down in these chasms it was thankfully cool.

Geology always makes for great photo ops.

Janet gets the artistic photo of the day award.

Really long walk out of here, and back to the train station. The sun is intense today. Fortunately, don’t have to wait long at the tiny train depot before one arrives back to Turnov. We are all out of energy by the time we are back in our apartment and can do nothing else today.

Czech Republic