Křivoklátsko

Location
An extensive complex of natural and semi-natural leafy and mixed forests is situated along the central flow of the Berounka River in the regions of Beroun, Kladno, Rakovník, Plzeň – north and Rokycany.

Area
63 000 ha

History
The area was proclaimed a protected landscape area in 1978, since 1977 Křivoklátsko has been included in the UNESCO Biosphere Reservation list.

Altitude
215-616 m above sea level

Nature
The landscape has plain and upland relief; an old plain was split up by the deep erosive valleys of the Berounka River and its flows. Significant rock formations are located on the right bank of the Berounka River and on the whole territory of the protected landscape area.

Rare and protected species
Large continuous forests, which occupy almost 62% of the territory, have been a hunting ground since ancient times and the forest-free enclaves have been used for game keeping and hunting. Generic composition is slightly modified and corresponds to a variety of subsoil and expositions. Beech woods are often mixed with firs. The bulbiferous crow toe and other rare species grow in the undergrowth. Rubble forests with sycamores, millings, horn beams, lime trees, ashes and elms, with red yews grow on steep hillsides. Bushes such as hawthorn, blackthorn, cornel, cotoneaster, rose and buckthorn, along with meadow pasqueflower, porcupine grass and the rare alpine fern appear on the rocks. In the oak and hornbeam groves you can find the white helleborine or the hurst cornflower. The fauna of the Křivoklátsko region is among the best preserved in our country. Also the fauna is very interesting. A number of endemic species live among molluscs. Various fish species, among them trout and conger, riverine lobster and also Lewis bolt live in water reservoirs. You can find here also the gigantic wasp-beetle, the big stag beetle and rare butterfly species. Also amphibians and birds are domiciled here, such as the very rare moor games, the black stork, the riverine kingfishers, the hoopoe and others. A few couples of fluvial otter live in Křivoklátsko protected landscape area.

Nature interests of the protected landscape areas
Kohoutov, Tyrov, Velká Pleš (Great Bald Head), Trubínský vrch, Valachov, Vraní skála (Crow Rock), Brdatka, Dubensko, Jezírka, Jouglovka, Kabečnice, Na Babě, springs of the Klíčava River, Stříbrný luh, Svatá Alžběta, U Eremita. More information about these localities is available in the CHKO Administration Office.

Main tourist centres
A number of larger towns , with good accommodation and food services are located close to the protected landscape area, among them Beroun, Plzeň, Rokycany, Rakovník and Kladno. The are is easy to reach from Prague as well.