The water hits the granite with a sound like a continuous thunderclap, a roar that vibrates through the wooden viewing platform and into the soles of your boots. The Mumlava Waterfall (Mumlavský vodopád), the most powerful waterfall in the Krkonoše Mountains, the highest range in the Czech Republic, the natural border with Poland, drops 10 metres over a series of stepped granite ledges, the river Mumlava carving deep circular potholes (the “Giant’s Cauldrons”, obří hrnce, the swirling stones drilling perfectly cylindrical cavities into the rock over thousands of years) at the base. The water is a glacial blue-green, cold enough to hurt (4-7°C year-round, fed by snowmelt from the Krkonoše plateau), and the mist from the falls hangs in the air on summer days, cooling the forest and casting tiny rainbows in the spray.

The Krkonoše: The Roof of the Czech Republic

The Krkonoše Mountains, the Giant Mountains, the highest range in the Czech Republic (Sněžka, the highest peak, 1,603 m) and the oldest national park in the country (established 1963, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve since 1992), are the Central European range that most Western Europeans have never heard of. The landscape is subarctic at the summit (the Arctic-alpine tundra, the relict plant species surviving from the last Ice Age, the dwarf pine and the lichen-covered rocks), forested on the slopes (spruce, beech, the sound of woodpeckers and the occasional glimpse of a red deer), and crisscrossed with 800 km of marked hiking trails. The Mumlava Waterfall is the most accessible natural spectacle, a 20-minute walk from the car park at Harrachov (a ski resort in winter, a hiking base in summer), the path well-maintained and suitable for children.

Harrachov and the Surroundings: Harrachov, a small town on the Polish border, the glass-making tradition dating from the 14th century, the Novosad glassworks (the oldest functioning glassworks in Bohemia, founded 1712, the guided tours showing the glassblowers at work, the shop selling the output at factory prices), is the base for the Mumlava and the wider Krkonoše. The ski jump (the Čerťák, one of five ski flying hills in the world, the take-off point 185 metres above the landing slope, the view from the top, accessible by chairlift in summer, the restaurant at the start tower, vertiginous and panoramic) is the unexpected attraction. The beer, the Harrachov brewery (the Novosad, the family brewery, the beer unfiltered and unpasteurised, the 11-degree lager the house speciality, the brewery tour and tasting €8), is the reward for the hiking.

The Krkonoše Hiking Network: The trail system, marked with the Czech system of coloured waymarkers (red, blue, green, yellow, the same system used across the country and remarkably reliable), connects the mountain huts (bouda, the traditional Krkonoše chalets, the accommodation basic but warm, the food hearty, svíčková, the beef in cream sauce with bread dumplings, the cranberries, the whipped cream), and the summits. The hike from Harrachov to the Mumlava, then up to the Vosecká bouda (a mountain hut at 1,260 m, the views of the Polish side of the Krkonoše, the blueberry dumplings in season), is a half-day loop. The ridge trail, the Czech-Polish Friendship Trail (Cesta česko-polského přátelství, the border path running the length of the Krkonoše, the views across both countries, the Sněžka summit at the eastern end), is the multi-day option. The Krkonoše are accessible from Prague (2 hours by car, 2.5 hours by bus to Harrachov) and are busy in summer (Czech and Polish holidaymakers) but quiet in the shoulder seasons (May, September). The mountains are not the Alps. They are smaller, gentler, and more forgiving, the kind of mountains where a walk to a waterfall and a lunch of dumplings and beer feels like a genuine achievement.