Adršpach-Teplice Rocks
Encyclopedia
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
formations covering 17 km² in northeastern Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
, Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
.
They are named after two nearby municipalities: Adršpach
Adršpach
Adršpach is a village in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has around 520 inhabitants.The village is divided into the administrative areas of Dolní Adršpach and Horní Adršpach...
, and Teplice nad Metují
Teplice nad Metují
Teplice nad Metují is a small town in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has around 1,800 inhabitants.Villages and hamlets Bohdašín, Dědov, Dolní Teplice, Horní Teplice, Javor, Lachov, Skály and Zdoňov are administrative parts of Teplice nad Metují.-External links:*...
.
The rocks have been protected as a national nature reserve
Nature reserve
A nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research...
since 1933, and since 1991 the whole adjacent region of Broumov
Broumov
Broumov is a town in the Czech Republic, in the Náchod District of the Hradec Králové Region near the Polish border. The municipality at the small Stěnava River is the center of the Broumovsko area, along with the adjacent Adršpach-Teplice Rocks, a protected area popular with mountain...
sko has enjoyed the status of protected landscape area.
Tourists may visit the rocks via a number of marked trails
Trail blazing
Trail blazing, or trailblazing, is the practice of marking paths in outdoor recreational areas with blazes, markings that follow each other at certain — though not necessarily exactly defined — distances and mark the direction of the trail...
. The area is a popular destination for rock climbers
Rock climbing
Rock climbing also lightly called 'The Gravity Game', is a sport in which participants climb up, down or across natural rock formations or artificial rock walls. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a pre-defined route without falling...
.
In recent years, it has become a focus for the high-risk climbing-related sport of rock jumping.
The area is also one of the largest permanent breeding sites of Peregrine Falcon
Peregrine Falcon
The Peregrine Falcon , also known as the Peregrine, and historically as the Duck Hawk in North America, is a widespread bird of prey in the family Falconidae. A large, crow-sized falcon, it has a blue-gray back, barred white underparts, and a black head and "moustache"...
in Europe, as they are protected here under federal law. Some areas have been designated off limits to climbers and hikers to make sure the birds aren't disturbed.