Malá Úpa – Mountain Landscape, Trails and Experiences

Malá Úpa combines a distinctive mountain landscape with trails, stories, regional culture and winter sports. In Malá Úpa and the surrounding area, there are 10 peaks higher than 1,000 metres. This gives the area a clear landscape focus, while several clearly distinct experiences complement the options for your stay.

Mountain landscape and trails with a history of their own

One particularly characteristic way to explore the region is the Mining Trail. It comprises 16 stations in Malá Úpa and three more along the route to the neighbouring Polish town of Kowary. In Malá Úpa, the trail leads past traces of ore mining, to the entrance of an exploration adit from the 1950s and to representative types of Krkonoše rock and rock formations. The route thus combines landscape and local history without requiring you to focus on a single theme.

The Fairy-Tale Trail is also designed around recurring discoveries. It comprises 10 stations; at each station, there is something entertaining, a picture to trace and a fairy tale. You can obtain a map of the Fairy-Tale Trail at the information centre in Pomezní Boudy. The route can also be shortened by skipping the section around Kraví hora, or divided into several day stages. The Fairy-Tale Trail can be shortened by skipping the section around Kraví hora or divided into several day stages.

Winter sports and cycle route

For winter days, the SKiMU Malá Úpa ski area consists of the two connected areas of Pomezky and U Kostela. Together, they offer more than 6 kilometres of blue and red ski runs. If you prefer to explore Malá Úpa on two wheels, the KRNAP cycle route 24A “Okolo Kraví hory” offers a circuit on forest paths. The route runs from the church in Malá Úpa to stations 6 and 7 of the Fairy-Tale Trail.

Church, brewery and regional specialities

The single-nave Church of St Peter and Paul is one of Malá Úpa’s historic landmarks. It was built between 1788 and 1799 and restored and rebuilt after a fire in 1806. The KRNAP cycle route 24A “Okolo Kraví hory” also starts here, allowing culture and a circular route to be combined in one outing.

Another special feature is the Pivovar Trautenberk brewery. It is located in the former Tippeltova bouda, later known as Hotel Družba, and brews unpasteurised and unfiltered beer. Visits to the area where the beer is brewed are possible. In addition to hiking, cycling and winter sports, the place therefore also offers an insight into a local brewing tradition.

Parking and orientation on site

For visitor orientation, Malá Úpa has four visitor car parks. P1 Sportcentrum is the largest parking area and is located directly at the Polish border. P2 Infocentrum is situated by the information centre, is intended only for daytime parking until 11 p.m. and has a special tariff. P3 Zátiší is opposite the Lesní Zátiší restaurant. P4 Spálený Mlýn is located in Dolní Malá Úpa. You can take these different starting points into account when planning your excursions without assuming distances or travel times.

If you would like to include destinations beyond Malá Úpa in your search, you can also explore Velké Svatoňovice, Lánov, Hajnice, Slemeno, Pilníkov, Bílá Třemešná, Prosečné and Vlcice U Trutnova.

For the higher-level travel overview: Trutnov District.