Teufelssee — Devil's Lake — is one of the most atmospheric glacial lakes in the Bohemian Forest, wrapped in ancient spruce woodland and steeped in centuries of local legend. Sitting at 1,030 metres on the south-eastern slope of Jezerní hora, it rewards hikers with a sense of genuine wilderness that is increasingly rare in Central Europe.
The lake covers nearly 10 hectares and plunges to a depth of 36.5 metres, its half-moon shape perfectly cradled by the surrounding cirque. In summer the dark water mirrors an unbroken canopy of spruce; in winter it freezes solid under ice up to 75 cm thick, turning the whole basin into a hushed, fairy-tale scene. Autumn mist drifting through the trees makes it easy to understand why locals have always felt something 'other' about this place.
How to get thereHere is an unusual distinction: Teufelssee is the only glacial lake in the Bohemian Forest that drains into the Danube basin — all the others flow towards the Elbe.