Czech Republic Guide
South Bohemia
The Šumava
The dense pine forests and peat bogs of the Šumava region ( 
www.sumava.net ) stretch along the Austrian and German borders southwest of Český Krumlov, part of the much larger Böhmerwald which spreads across into Bavaria and forms one of the last remaining wildernesses in central Europe. The original inhabitants of this sparsely populated region were German-speaking foresters, who scraped a living from its meagre soil – their Austrian lilt and agricultural poverty separating them from their "civilized" Sudetenland brothers in western and northern Bohemia. Up until the declaration of the First Republic in 1918, the economic armlock of the all-powerful Schwarzenberg and Buquoy dynasties kept the region in a permanent semi-feudal state. Even in the nineteenth century, peasants had to have permission from their landlords to marry, and their customary greeting to the local squire was Brotvater (literally "Breadfather").
Hiking in the Šumava
One of the most interesting Šumava hikes sets off from Ovesná station, one along from Nová Pec (and occasionally request only). Follow the yellow-marked route northwest through gigantic boulders and thick forest to Perník (1049m), before dropping down to Jelení, where the Schwarzenberský kanál emerges from a tunnel. Built at the turn of the eighteenth century, to transport the Šumava's valuable timber straight to the Danube (less than 40km due south), the canal was abandoned as a waterway in 1962. A little further on you reach the Medvědí kámen (Bären Stein), marking the spot where the last bear in the Šumava was shot in 1856. The only threat to hikers now is the lynx, which was reintroduced hereabouts in 1985. Moving on, you should reach the village station at Černý Kříž in around six hours (14km) from Ovesná.
From Nové Údolí (only accessible by train, bike or foot), hard by the German border, you can take the red-marked trail south, 5km to the peak of Třístoličník or Dreisesselberg (1302m) right on the border. From here, it's another 5km to Trojmezí, the meeting-point of the German, Austrian and Czech borders, and 1km further to the summit of the Czech Šumava's highest peak, Plechý or Plöckenstein (1378m), on the Austrian border. From Plechý you could make the steep descent to Plešné jezero, a glacial lake that sits in the shadow of the sheer northeast face of the mountain, from which it's another 8km via the green-marked path to Nová Pec train station.