Paragliders below Cold War radar on Doubrava
A 1.4 km visit to Velká Doubrava, where 19th-century surveying, Cold War radar remains and an active paragliding launch share one unusually busy 727 m summit.
On the Plzeň day, paragliders were laying out bright wings a few steps below Doubrava’s wooded summit. A few steps above them sat survey blocks, antennas and the remains of a much longer technical history. For a 1.4 km visit, Velká Doubrava contained a remarkable amount.
Driving almost to the crest
The walk was short only because I could drive much higher than expected. On 14 March 2026 the upper access road from the south was passable and I did not see a prohibitory sign, so I continued to the GPX start point at 49.436206, 13.203547. That records what worked on this visit, not a promise that the same vehicle access will remain available.
From the car I followed an easy path north along the wooded crest. There was no technical difficulty and little need for navigation.
In mid-March the leafless trees left broad gaps towards surrounding fields, villages and rounded hills. Regional tourism information notes that no official marked hiking trail reaches the summit, so my high-road start turned what could be a more conventional hill walk into a quick crest visit.
A summit built around measurement
Near the top, Doubrava becomes far more distinctive than a routine forest summit. A fenced antenna installation stands beside a picnic table and a cluster of surveying objects: a diagram of a Czech first-order triangulation network, a red-painted concrete survey block with a central cross, an older stone pillar and a red-and-white mast. Regional information also records a monument on Doubrava commemorating Central European surveying in 1867.
The objects do not all belong to one period, but together they make the summit’s role as a measurement point unusually visible.
Radar above, paragliders below
The communications hardware has its own history. Regional sources record that a military radiotechnical post was established on Velká Doubrava in 1957, equipped with a P-35 radar and a PRV-11 radar height-finder. The army left the site in 1994, after which commercial transmitters remained on the mountain. What first looks like random summit clutter is therefore another layer of a hill repeatedly used because of its position above the surrounding country.
From a peakbagging perspective, I also checked the ground just north of the survey cluster. It looked marginally more like natural high ground than the slightly artificial-looking marker area, but the difference was tiny. I visited both rather than pretending the distinction was more precise than it was.
Just below the crest, the grassy paragliding launch changes the atmosphere completely. Pilots were using it when I arrived, which explained the parked cars and gave the summit an unexpected sense of activity. Above were survey blocks, masts and the remains of radar history; a few steps lower, people were preparing to step into open air.
I returned by nearly the same line and finished after about 27 minutes. Doubrava needed no extra drama. In one compact summit area, the hill has been used to measure the country, scan the sky and, now, launch people into it.