AT A GLANCE
Why go?
Polevský vrch (about 627–628 m) is a broad, flat-topped trachyte hill that rises straight above the northwestern edge of Polevsko, a small former glassmaking village tucked in the hills where the Lusatian Mountains meet Bohemian Switzerland in the far north of the Czech Republic. Unlike a sharp peak you have to fight to summit, this is a long grassy ridge that opens out into one of the region's most rewarding 360° panoramas for a very gentle walk.↗↗↗
From the meadow on the summit you can trace the cone of Klíč, the wooded crest of the Lusatian Mountains around Studenec, the sandstone heights of Bohemian and Saxon Switzerland with Růžovský vrch and Děčínský Sněžník, and to the south the rolling hills of the Česká Lípa countryside studded with Ortel, Ralsko and distant Bezděz. It is a favourite local spot for a stroll, a run, a bike ride or a dog walk, and in winter the slopes directly below turn into a small ski area.↗↗
A gentle summit with a wide horizon
Polevský vrch is one of the characteristic flat-topped volcanic (trachyte) hills that make up this borderland ridge. Its elongated crest stays largely open and grassy, so the walk up is easy and the reward is immediate: a view that stretches in every direction. To the east the strikingly conical Klíč dominates the skyline, with the lower hills of the Česká Lípa region unfolding behind it; the Ještěd ridge closes the eastern horizon. To the north-west, growing woodland now screens part of the view, but you can still pick out the long crest of the Lusatian Mountains and the forested sandstone landscape of Bohemian Switzerland, with Růžovský vrch and, farther off, Děčínský Sněžník, and even the hills of Saxon Switzerland over the German border.
