Walk through the fallen leaves of beautiful and extensive beech trees on the ridges of the hills, or wade through the deciduous floodplain forests in the valleys of rivers and streams . Look around the region from the oldest stone lookout tower on Kleti , look into space from the observatory and take a ride on the historic single-seat cable car. Visit the Celtic opidum , Dívčí Kamen , or the castle remains and the unfinished monastery at Kuklov . Admire the farm buildings not only in the well-known Holašovice , but also in other villages under the mountain ridges. Visit the museum of the Schwarzenberg Canal in the native Chvalšine of builder Rosenauer. All this and other attractions can be found in the protected landscape area Blanský les .
The protected landscape area Blanský les was declared a large-scale protected area in 1990. It represents a complete landscape complex with a natural environment that has so far been little affected by the negative effects of human management. It lies southwest of České Budějovice and includes the entire Křemžská basin , in the southwest it extends into the Chvalšinská basin , and in the east it is bordered by the Vltava river between Zlata Koruna and Dívčí Kámen . Its territory of 21,235 hectares covers the districts of České Budějovice, Český Krumlov and Prachatice.
55% of the territory of the area is covered with forest . Due to their composition, they are a unique complex of natural forests. Important peaks include Kleť, Albertov and Bulový, Buglata, Vysoká Běta with Chrášťanský vrch, Kluk, etc. The PLA is also rich in a number of lower plant species. Plant and forest communities are accompanied by natural fauna. Among the most remarkable are groups of insects and molluscs bound to limestone and serpentine localities . The most abundant game is roe deer and wild boar, and deer are also gradually spreading here.
The name of the mountain Kleť is one of the oldest names of the Czech mountains. In the surviving written documents, we can follow the development of the name roughly as follows: 1263 – Mons Naklethi, 1318 – Naklati, 1445 – Kletie, 1600 – Kleta, 1624 – Kleť, Kletý, from the 17th century – Schöniger, popularly known as Schönigl, Šénygl, end of the 19th century – Cage, from 1918 to today – Cage
At the beginning of the 19th century, it was visited only for the purpose of measurement and mapping. The cage is a place with a unique circular view. Even before the observation tower was built, people came here for an excellent view of the Alps. Prince Josef Jan Nepomuk of Schwarzenberg, himself a passionate traveler, also promoted tourist interests. So he gave the impetus for the construction of a stone lookout tower at the very top. The building was built between 1822 and 1825. It is the oldest stone lookout tower in Bohemia, from which you can see as far as the Alpine peaks in cold weather. It was named Joseph’s Tower in honor of the founder. Josef’s tower became a trigonometric point for cartographic work in 1824-1825, and thus the place attracted not only thousands of visitors, but also creators of views from the top of the tower.