Tucked into a flat mountain saddle in the Hrubý Jeseník range, Rašeliniště Skřítek is one of the finest and best-preserved highland bogs in the Czech Republic. Ancient spruce forests draped in moss, carpets of sphagnum, and an ever-present sense of wild, untouched nature make this a truly special place — quite unlike anything you will find on a typical mountain trail.

The landscape here is hauntingly atmospheric in every season. Summer brings vivid greens from the sedges and mosses, autumn transforms the bog into a tapestry of gold and rust, while winter blankets the entire area in deep snow. The terrain is flat but heavily waterlogged — cool, damp air hangs over the reserve year-round, fed by rainfall of 1000–1200 mm per year. Ancient spruce trees up to 160 years old stand alongside Carpathian birch, and rare borealpeatland species thrive in the permanently wet conditions.

• Parking at the Skřítek motorest (Skřítek saddle, road no. 11 between Šumperk and Rýmařov) — tourist marked trails run along the reserve boundary, easy walking, no significant elevation gain
• Direct bus connection available — stop 'motorest Skřítek' on the Šumperk–Rýmařov route

• Public access inside the reserve is prohibited — visitors may walk only along the marked boundary trails.
• The reserve forms part of the Jeseníky Protected Landscape Area and the Natura 2000 bird area 'Jeseníky'.
• Notable wildlife includes black stork, hazel grouse, alpine newt, viviparous lizard, and the rare Arctic emerald dragonfly (Somatochlora arctica).

That Arctic emerald dragonfly is a genuine glacial relict — a species that has survived here since the last Ice Age, clinging on in this cold, boggy hollow deep in the Jeseníky mountains. The reserve has been protected since 1955, when peat extraction was finally brought to an end.