Grünwaldské vřesoviště is a small but remarkable nature reserve tucked into the Ore Mountains, where a raised peat bog stretches quietly beneath a canopy of rare pine trees. It's a place that rewards visitors with a rare glimpse of untouched wetland wilderness.

The landscape here feels raw and atmospheric - a boggy expanse dotted with twisted mountain pine, surrounded by dense forest. In summer the ground stays damp and mossy, while spring brings the dramatic mating displays of black grouse. Autumn colors the heathland in warm hues, and winter blankets the whole reserve in silence and frost, making the gnarled pines look almost otherworldly.

How to get there

• From the village of Moldava - easy trail, roughly an hour's walk
• Also accessible from the site of the vanished village of Grünwald (Pastviny), after which the reserve is named

Practical information

• Protected area - stay on marked paths at all times
• Breeding and lekking site of the black grouse (Lyrurus tetrix) - keep noise to a minimum, especially in spring
• Sensitive peat bog habitat - best visited during drier periods

The reserve takes its name from the long-vanished village of Grünwald, and today its main treasure is the rare bog pine subspecies (Pinus uncinata subsp. uliginosa) that thrives nowhere else nearby.