ToulejSe.cz
O
Search
EN
Language

Menu

Boubín lookout tower

The Boubín lookout tower really has something to offer its visitors! You can combine a visit with a romantic walk and the view you will get directly from the tower will enchant you completely!

Information for visitors

Adress: , Buk
GPS: 48.99131400, 13.81737300
Boubín lookout tower map

Interesting facts Boubín lookout tower

The wooden lookout tower, standing on the top of the Šumava mountain Boubín, is located approximately 20 km west of Prachatice, at an altitude of 1362 meters. It was officially opened to tourists on June 3, 2005.

109 steps lead to the viewing platform, located at a height of 21 meters. After overcoming them, you will be able to see the Boubín ridge, Vimperk, Prachatice from a bird's eye view, and if the weather is really inclined, you will also see the Alps, Velký Javor, Temelín or Hluboká nad Vltavou. Information boards are placed around the perimeter of the viewing platform, describing all the main visible points and facilitating your orientation.

The easiest access on foot leads to the lookout tower from Kubova Huta following the blue tourist sign. This road is about 4.5 km long. Another option is to leave Včelná pod Boubínem, but this road is about 2 km longer. You can also go to Pravětín following the red tourist sign, 8.5 km to the lookout tower. The blue tourist sign will take you to the lookout tower from Záton as well.

The lookout tower is freely accessible and open daily without restrictions.

Boubín, on which the lookout tower stands, was formerly also called Boubův vrch or Búbův vrch. It is one of the highest and also the most famous peaks of Šumava, mainly thanks to the Boubín Forest, a nature reserve. The tourist lookout tower has been standing here since 2005.


Boubín previously served surveyors. You will find a protected trigonometric point here and there were also at least two triangulation towers. After the end of the last one, in the 1960s, a military observatory was established here, which also served as a lookout tower, until 1976.


The current lookout tower has always provoked disputes between its supporters and opponents. For example, the Zdislavska Decorating Association, the Association for the Protection of Šumava Nature and others spoke out against the construction. A complaint was even lodged with the European Commission over the construction.


The idea to build a lookout tower on Boubín arose from the heads of representatives of eleven municipalities associated in the Horní Vltava - Boubínsko micro-region. The main goal was to attract more tourists to these countries.


The current lookout tower was built from July to November 2004. 60 tons of material were gradually transported to the top of the hill. As construction machinery was not allowed to be used here, everything took place with the help of manual mechanization, a cable car or horses.


The observation platform of the Boubín lookout tower is not roofed, it is built of impregnated logs, which are anchored in four feet made of reinforced concrete.


In 2007, the end of the ascent road was modified into a wooden sidewalk with a railing.

Author: Andrea Štyndlová