Climbing at South Moravia

South Moravia covers crags from the Drahany Highlands and the Moravian Karst through the Brno area down to the Znojmo region and Pálava on the Austrian border. The most important is the Moravian Karst north of Brno near Blansko – a limestone protected landscape area of about 92 km² with around 1,100 caves and gorges, five of them open to the public; the best known are the Punkva Caves, discovered by Karel Absolon, and the 138 m deep Macocha Abyss, where the Punkva river disappears underground. In the south rise the limestone Pavlov Hills in the Pálava Protected Landscape Area (since 19 March 1976, 83 km², highest point Děvín at 550 m), a UNESCO biosphere reserve since 1986, extended in 2003 to include the Lednice–Valtice Cultural Landscape.

The character of the climbing changes with the rock: in the Moravian Karst it is overhanging and vertical limestone – Holštejn is among the hardest climbing spots in the Czech Republic, with slippery limestone in places, polished easier routes and long run-outs. Around Brno and in the Drahany Highlands sport climbing on walls and quarries dominates, in the Znojmo area along the Jevišovka, Dyje and Jihlava valleys (Jevišovice and Křižanov Uplands) trad climbing with your own gear, often in the shade, and on Pálava climbing in the Trůn and Martinka groups. Most crags lie in protected areas, so check current restrictions with the Czech Mountaineering Association and the protected-area administrations before visiting.