Sometimes mild, sometimes unbridled
You will feel like you are in the books of Karl May on the last stretch of the Sázava River. It is as if the river wanted to show the best of itself before it merges with the Vltava. Untamed nature, the tramp tradition, a large number of navigable weirs and, when there is water, you can also enjoy the wild rapids. Boating navigation will help you with the dangers on the water.
During the summer, the 16 km section between Týnec nad Sázavou and Pikovice is passable even for beginners, just be prepared for scrubbing. Thanks to the SHPPs, and there are more than enough of them, which literally suck the water out of the river, you can expect a game of zigzagging between protruding boulders, and even days when you don’t pass through the valley at all. In spring or after days when it was pouring down rain, however, without experience, don’t go on this section. You can easily check the passability here.
Board below the weir in Týnec nad Sázavou, where you can pick up a plastic or inflatable boat at the Bisport and Samba rentals. You can safely leave the unnecessary ballast in their yards and arrange to have it transported overland. Leave the car at home, you can easily get to Týnec by train. A local train departs from Prague’s main station and takes you along the Posázavský Pacific line. From the train it is only a few minutes walk to the reservoir. And why Gotham City? On the other side of the shore the tower of the Romanesque castle, which houses a museum and bats, peeks through the trees above the weir.
Before you reach Kamenný Přívoz, which is about half of the trip, you can stop at the Military Technical Museum. After the inspection and assessment of the situation, pull the boat ashore at the Krhanický jízek weir, it should go right and left, and walk to the museum (depending on where you climb, but expect a route of about 800-1,500 metres). Admission is free and they are open from June to September.
Cross the Pacific and start in Gotham City
Until rivers meet, dreamers sail through their paradise
Is your stomach empty and your throat dry as tinder? It’s time to take a break and recharge the batteries. In Kamenný Přívoz, stop for lunch at the U Dvou pádel pub, the U Hastrmana restaurant or the U Vemenáče pub. The Žampach stone viaduct will then emerge from the forest and the valley will begin to cut deeper and deeper into the surrounding landscape.
Toronto, Kansas, Yucatan, the Valley of Silence or Old Waikiki. No, we didn’t mix up a continent, and you didn’t suddenly appear across the pond. Just a small sample of the names of former tramp settlements, which are scattered like pearls along this section. The illusion of a forgotten region is only disturbed by squares. That is to say, the new comers with cars, electricity and modern technology, which in the old days the tramps would have expelled without mercy. The times of the greatest glory of Czech tramping are reminiscent of the last huts with access only from the water or on foot. The word ‘romance’ can be used in all its forms, and if you want to delve deeper into it stop for ‘one’ at the tramp pub Starcova hospoda on the left bank.
After a sporting performance, a well-deserved reward
If you see a rock formation called Pikovická jehla on the starboard side high above the water, you are almost at the end. Civilization around the water thickens again, and the Pikovice destination is in front of you. Here you hand in your boat and, if you have arranged for luggage transfer, exchange it for paddles. Before heading back you can refresh yourself in the U Kelímka snack bar or in the U Dolejších restaurant, which is a bit closer to the centre of the village. Stop by the Oliveto Café for a coffee. Too exhausted to return home? Pitch your tent in the camping ground and head home in the morning. Just across the river you will find the Petrov u Prahy train stop, which is on the Posázavský Pacifik line. The tramp refreshment Zelená rokle is hidden in the forest.
