Mladoboleslavsko

You can also visit the chalet CHKO Český ráj, which is a useful source of information about the region during the tourist season.

Věžák pond is part of the Trosky Valley, which contains ponds and watercourses in steep canyon-like valleys lined with sandstone rocks. If you’re starting your trip from Borek, you visit the Rokytnický, Hrudka, Vidlák and Krčák ponds in turn, after which you can continue past Věžák to Podsemínský pond and Nebákov.

You can encounter a diverse community of birds and other aquatic animals around these ponds. The mute swan, black-necked and little grebes, the horned grebe, the mallard, common pochard, tufted duck, and the blue and common teal nest here. The river kingfisher, Eurasian coot and the green-footed sandpiper also live here. Songbirds include the common reed bunting, and the common and great reed warbler. Birds that appear during the migratory period in spring and autumn include the grey heron and birds of prey such as the western marsh harrier and the osprey.

There are many interesting plants growing in the local wetlands, such as the bog arum, the round-leaved sundew, the spring sedge, the yellow iris and the water violet. Amidst the surrounding oaks and beech trees, you can find the great horsetail, the white helleborine, the drooping bittercress, eagle fern, heather, bilberry and other flora.

The picturesque setting of Věžák and the sandstone rocks around it also attracted the makers of the film Jak dostat tatínka do polepšovny (How to Get Dad Into Reform School). It is on the rock by the pond that Vašek first tries his hand at climbing, which of course doesn’t go down well with his mum at all.

Věžák pond is situated right in the heart of the Bohemian Paradise. You can follow the marked footpaths and biking trails from there to Trosky, the Hrubá Skála rock town, Baker’s Gate or Kost Castle.