
Czech Trail Marking System (2006) - PopeDotNinja
http://blog.myczechrepublic.com/2006/10/31/czech-trail-marking-system-the-best-in-the-world/
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PopeDotNinja
I've been visiting various sites in the Czech Republic and have been seeing
these markers on trees. At first I thought they were pointing the site I was
visit, but then I realized they didn't always lead where I was trying to go.
So I googled "czech marks painted trees" and came across this blog post. Enjoy
:)

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RivieraKid
The Czech map service Mapy.cz is also really good for hiking. For example,
this is the same location compared with Google Maps (if you have a high
density screen, I recommend setting zoom to 75% on mapy.cz):

[https://mapy.cz/turisticka?x=15.7287144&y=50.6908445&z=13](https://mapy.cz/turisticka?x=15.7287144&y=50.6908445&z=13)

[https://www.google.com/maps/@50.6967232,15.6888516,12.89z](https://www.google.com/maps/@50.6967232,15.6888516,12.89z)

It's owned by the guy who made Windy.com.

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rurban
It's the very best hiking service in Germany also. Google maps is only usable
for cars or bus/train. But for hiking or bycycling Mapy.cz with OSM are the
best.

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Agoreddah
Wow. To my surprise, I was thinking they are something like "standard" in
western world. Here in Slovakia, you go to every forest and see it guiding
your roads

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oftenwrong
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czech_Hiking_Markers_System](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czech_Hiking_Markers_System)

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vanous
What i consider a good thing is that distances are shown in kilometers, rather
then hours. Mountain trails might sometimes be marked in hours, as the hilly
terrain adds it's time toll significantly, but for the most part, it is
kilometers, which means that can very easily estimate how long it will take
you to your destination while walking/running/biking...

But not all signage is great that in CZ. For example driving roads are mostly
marked by "destination cities" at intersections rather then by road numbers
(except of highway exits), so when planning a road trip, you must create an
itinerary of towns to pass through, rather then simply following a map of
roads.

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ghaff
In my experience, distance is the norm. I'm not sure I've ever seen a
hiking/walking trail marked for difficulty/time rather than distance. (Of
course a trail map/book/description may include more information including a
range of time to complete.)

Ski trails of course are usually just marked for difficulty level. (Which is
mostly relative to other trails on the same mountain.)

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jugjug
Trails in Slovakia are time-based. It is very useful in high mountains, when
one kilometer in distance might take several hours to walk/climb.

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ghaff
Interesting. "Book time" is a useful idea. The issue is that you need to have
a good baseline for how you personally compare to the book time. It works well
on an individual basis with a regional guidebook. I'm less sure what to make
of it in a sign in an unfamiliar area. (I have seen it in Japan as well. I
usually take it as something of an upper limit.)

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stefanu
Formal specification (PDF, in Slovak) that contains drawings with dimensions,
rules for stacking of multiple markers, shapes, etc.:

[http://www.jazdecka-
turistika.sk/images/stories/dokumenty/KT...](http://www.jazdecka-
turistika.sk/images/stories/dokumenty/KTS_norma_STN_01_8025.pdf)

EDIT: Typo

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daveslash
The way they're on sign-posts and everything is great. Although, the notion of
the colors painted on trees and what they mean (Red/Blue/Green/Yellow) is
something that I've definitely come across in the US. Specifically, in areas
near Boy Scout Reservations.

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megous
This makes hiking in Czechia pretty painless and low tech. And it's all made
by volunteers. I never thought there was any meaning to the colors though.

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Tade0
Nitpick: 1889 can't be the very first hiking trail, because two years earlier
a polish artist and hiker named Walery Eljasz marked a trail from Zakopane to
Morskie Oko using Mercury Sulfide (red).

I believe there could have been similar attempts earlier elsewhere as well.

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cujo
It sounds like they have a way of marking trails by difficulty only. That's a
nice feature, but what happens when two trails of the same color cross? Are
they still named? How does this get you from A to B without a map?

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bliker
I think red is generally used for long distance trails and other colours are
used for auxiliary routes. Because of that, colour clashes are rare. Because
all major intersections have arrows you just really need to remember your
destination. Often you even have the information about public transport at the
destination.

Example of a map:
[https://mapy.hiking.sk/?zoom=11&lat=6261583.4553&lon=2274012...](https://mapy.hiking.sk/?zoom=11&lat=6261583.4553&lon=2274012.26832&layers=00B00FFFTTFTTTFFFFFFFFTTT)

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cujo
I guess I don't see how this is such a remarkable system. Everywhere I've
hiked there has been some sort of blaze system to keep you on the trail you
want. This looks pretty much identical, only with the added bonus of ambiguity
throughout the country.

I just don't see the utility that makes this such a great idea.

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dejv
Ambiguity is the key here. The system is set in a way that no matter where you
are there are lines going just anywhere and once you are into it you will
never miss any interesting spot. Also all the lines connect to each other, so
I can start walking in one place and circle whole country.

Bonus point: whole system depends on volunteers who keep markings on all
lines.

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koksik202
Poland also has this system

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nmstoker
And it's similar to the system in the Dolomites in Italy too

