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Your trip starts at Tetřeví sedlo saddle, which the locals know as Výpřež. This is where the merchants used to unharness their horses after they pulled the wagons up to the saddle. You don’t have to worry though, as this is a fairly easy trip and you won’t be needing any horses. (Incidentally, while the road from Liberec is closed you can drive to Výpřež from the other side of the hill). Follow the yellow markers along the easy forest trail and after less than a kilometre you’ll come to what is perhaps the most beautiful rock formation on the Ještěd Ridge, the “Stone Gate”, our first – i.e. “white” stone. It really is a huge gate, and as it’s open, it offers a wonderful view far and wide.

From the gate the yellow route follows the contour line almost all the way, so it’s a piece of cake. At the Na Příkopech crossroads the yellow route is joined by red markers, which will accompany you as far as the next viewpoint, this time “Červený kámen”, or “Red Stone”. If the Stone Gate is said to be the most beautiful of Ještěd’s rocks, then Červený kámen is the most distinctive – thanks to its deep red colour, caused by iron oxides forming in the cracks. The stone itself is a really nice sight, but the view of the surrounding countryside is even prettier.

Now retrace your steps a short way, as far as the Červený kámen crossroads, and then keep following the red markers up a slight hill to the sad site of the airplane crash of 1948. This tragic incident is commemorated by the Airmen’s Cairn and the remains of the plane, which crashed into the slope of Ještěd in poor weather. The memorial to the five victims, by coincidence all workers in the aviation industry, is a polished black stone placed on top of the cairn.

From the memorial follow the red markers up to the Nad Výpřeží crossroads, where you can either turn off along the red route following a graceful arc back to the Výpřež car park, or can prolong the trip a little by deciding to climb up as far as the summit of Ještěd. You can get there from the crossroads along the red and blue routes; it’s a little less than a kilometre, but this time it’s pretty steep most of the way. You can return to Výpřež from the summit along the same route, or you can catch a ride from the top of Ještěd to Liberec-Horní Hanychov on the cabin cable car.