Climbing at West Bohemia

West Bohemia has no single dominant rock town – its crags are scattered across the Plzeň and Karlovy Vary regions. The largest climbing area is the granite rocks around the village of Petrohrad near Podbořany, with twelve sectors (Brána, Vyhlídková skála, Pod hradem, Rybníček, Vlčí kopec, Josemit and more), the second largest is Žihle in the northern Plzeň region with the Viklany, Bába a Dědek and Sklárna sectors. There is more climbing at Ležky, on Kozelka and Polínský vrch (Plzeň North), at Loupensko and Vlčtejn (Plzeň South), at Radyně in Plzeň, in the Rokycany, Klatovy, Tachov and Domažlice regions (the Babylon quarry), in the Karlovy Vary region with the Svatošské skály in the Ohře valley, in the Slavkov Forest, in the Brdy and on the Goethe Rocks near Aš in the westernmost tip of the country.

Trad climbing with your own cams dominates, supplemented by fixed and textile protection; sport climbing is found mainly in quarries, such as the Babylon quarry, or on the Kňafák crag in the Slavkov Forest. There are crags in both sun and shade, so climbing is possible most of the year. Some crags lie in protected areas – check current restrictions with the Czech Mountaineering Association before visiting.