Why this ride
From Ostrov it runs 119 km to Ostrov; allow about 2 h 15 of riding. On the way it passes Karlovy Vary, Mědník Hill Mining Landscape and back through Karlovy Vary. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
The Red Tower of Death and Mědník Hill Mining Landscape
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 119 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 15
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
Castle Road
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 18 km this is Castle Road, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 18 km
- Named road
- Castle Road
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. The Red Tower of Death
The name sounds like a horror film, and the reality was grim enough. In the 1950s, the communist government of Czechoslovakia sent tens of thousands of political prisoners to labour camps in the Jáchymov region to mine uranium for the Soviet nuclear programme. In a red brick building near Ostrov, known as the Red Tower of Death, prisoners crushed and sorted uranium ore by hand, without protection, exposed to dust and radiation. Many died or suffered lasting illness. The building is now a memorial, part of the Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region World Heritage listing, and a powerful reminder of the human cost of the Cold War.
Read the complete The Red Tower of Death write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The Red Tower of Death is where the day begins. Next is Karlovy Vary.
2. Karlovy Vary
Legend has it that Emperor Charles IV was out hunting in the forests of western Bohemia in the fourteenth century when a stag he was chasing, or in some versions one of his hounds, fell into a pool of scalding water, and that is how the hot springs of Karlovy Vary were found. Whatever the truth, the town that grew up around them bears his name, Karlsbad in German, and by the nineteenth century it had become one of the most fashionable spas in Europe, visited by tsars, composers, poets and the cream of European society. In 2021, it became part of the UNESCO listing of the Great Spa Towns of Europe.
Read the complete Karlovy Vary write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Karlovy Vary comes up about 18 km into the recorded legs. Next is Mědník Hill Mining Landscape.
3. Mědník Hill Mining Landscape
Mědník is a small, steep hill on the Czech side of the Ore Mountains, or Krušné hory, the range that forms the border between Bohemia and Saxony. It rises above the village of Měděnec, whose name, like the hill's, comes from the Czech word for copper. For centuries, miners tunnelled into the hill for copper and iron ore, and the hill is now part of the Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region, inscribed by UNESCO in 2019 as a cross-border site.
Read the complete Mědník Hill Mining Landscape write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 59 km into the recorded legs you reach Mědník Hill Mining Landscape. Next is back through Karlovy Vary.
4. back through Karlovy Vary
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Karlovy Vary write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Karlovy Vary, late in the day. Next is The Red Tower of Death.
5. The Red Tower of Death
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The Red Tower of Death write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at The Red Tower of Death. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
The Red Tower of Death to Karlovy Vary
The Red Tower of Death → Karlovy Vary is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Karlovy Vary to Mědník Hill Mining Landscape
Karlovy Vary → Mědník Hill Mining Landscape is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mědník Hill Mining Landscape to back through Karlovy Vary
Mědník Hill Mining Landscape → back through Karlovy Vary is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Karlovy Vary to The Red Tower of Death
back through Karlovy Vary → The Red Tower of Death is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.