NPR Praděd is the largest nature reserve in the Czech Republic and one of the most ecologically remarkable mountain landscapes in Central Europe. Stretching from the deep valley of the Bílá Opava river all the way up to bare, windswept summits resembling Arctic tundra, this is a place where nature feels truly untamed. Rare endemic plants, vanishing bird species, and glacier-carved cirques await anyone willing to explore it.

The landscape is strikingly varied. The summit of Praděd (1,490.8 m) — the highest point in Moravia — towers above vast alpine meadows dotted with frost-shattered rock formations. The Velká kotlina (Great Kettle) cirque is a botanical hotspot of European significance, home to nearly 480 plant species including several found nowhere else on Earth. In winter, snowfall averages 160 cm and lingers in sheltered hollows well into July. Fog shrouds the peaks on roughly 294 days a year, giving the reserve an otherworldly, almost mystical atmosphere. In summer, the open heaths burst into bloom with rare orchids, gentians, and bellflowers.

• Karlova Studánka — Bílá Opava nature trail along the river, passing ancient mountain forest and multiple waterfalls (highest 7.9 m), ending at Barborka chalet below Praděd — moderate
• Ovčárna (approx. 1,300 m) — trailhead for the Praděd summit route and the Velká kotlina nature trail from Karlova pod Pradědem to Ovčárna — moderate
• Bělá pod Pradědem — approach from the north — moderate to demanding

• The reserve lies in Zone I of the Jeseníky Protected Landscape Area — keep strictly to marked trails
• The only ski area within the reserve is Praděd-Ovčárna, the highest-altitude ski resort in the Czech Republic (base at 1,300 m) — season depends on snow conditions
• The Praděd TV tower on the summit houses a restaurant, hotel, and observation deck at 73 m — on clear days you can spot Sněžka, Lysá hora, and occasionally the High Tatras in Slovakia
• Part of Natura 2000, EECONET, and designated as an Important Plant Area (IPA)

The sudetian ringlet butterfly Erebia sudetica sudetica — an endemic high-altitude species — calls these alpine meadows home, and is today threatened by the encroachment of dwarf pine, which the reserve is actively working to remove.