Jeseníky ridge in three days: from Ostružná over Praděd to Stará Ves

Three days, 58 kilometres and nearly every big name in the Jeseníky in one go. My girlfriend and I stepped off the train in Ostružná on Good Friday and walked into Stará Ves near Rýmařov on Easter Sunday morning. On the way we crossed Smrk, Šerák, Keprník, Praděd and Vysoká hole. Down in the valleys it was already spring at the start of April, but from about 1,100 metres up the ridge was still white.

Day one: from the platform to Červenohorské sedlo

The Šumperk–Jeseník train stops right where the route begins. We left Ostružná station at 10:52 under a blue sky and climbed through the forest past the Císařka hunting lodge to Smrk (1,127 m). It is the highest point of the Rychlebské hory, and the Polish border runs straight over the top. Red markers then take you down to Ramzová. Around three we were in Ramzovské sedlo at 760 m, the gap where the Rychlebské hory hand over to the Hrubý Jeseník.

Next comes the big climb of the day, almost 600 metres up to Šerák (1,351 m), which we reached at 17:26. We took a twenty-minute break at Chata Jiřího just below the top. An hour later we stood on snowy Keprník (1,423 m) in low evening light, and that's where the first photo in the gallery comes from. The sun set at 19:32, so we walked the last stretch over Červená hora in the dusk and reached Červenohorské sedlo at 20:27. The day added up to 27.8 km and about 1,340 metres of ascent, nine and a half hours after leaving the train.

We didn't go looking for a bed that night. We slept outside under the stars, right on the snow at Červenohorské sedlo. A bivouac like that is only fine if you stick to the protected-area rules, more on those below.

Day two: over Praděd to Jelení studánka

Saturday was grey. We left the saddle at 10:06 and followed the ridge past Výrovka and over Malý and Velký Jezerník, where snow covered the whole forest track and skiers had left their lines in it. At Švýcárna (12:36) we stopped for half an hour before the climb to Praděd. At 1,491 m it is the highest mountain in Moravia and Silesia, and we spent forty minutes at the foot of its transmitter tower, which has a restaurant inside. Past Petrovy kameny and U Barborky we dropped to Ovčárna, then climbed again to Vysoká hole (1,464 m) by half past five. East of the summit the slopes fall away into Velká kotlina, the cirque where most avalanches in the Jeseníky come down, usually in spring. The marked path keeps to the ridge. We reached Jelení studánka at 18:48 after 19.3 km and 770 metres of climbing.

Day three: down to Stará Ves

We spent the second night in the stone shelter at Jelení studánka. In the morning fog sat on the ridge and only patches of snow were left around it. The sun rose behind the fog at 6:14, and at 7:38 we set off down the red trail towards Rýmařov. The snow was soon gone, and shortly before Stará Ves the path follows a narrow water channel through the forest. At 11:00 we were in the village, 10.7 km further on and 700 metres lower.

Good to know

Trains on line 292 stop in both Ostružná and Ramzová, so you can also cut the first day short in Ramzovské sedlo. From Stará Ves, bus 880 runs to Rýmařov station, where trains leave for Valšov. Check the timetables if you travel at the weekend or on a holiday. In April Chata Jiřího on Šerák runs a reduced service because the chairlift from Ramzová is shut for its annual maintenance. Švýcárna is open every day. The stone shelter at Jelení studánka belongs to Lesy ČR, has room for fifteen and is meant for one emergency night only, in bad weather or when your legs give out. There is spring water next to it, and fires are not allowed. Camping is banned across the CHKO Jeseníky outside villages and designated sites. A single night out without a tent, leaving no trace behind, counts as a bivouac rather than camping. The exception is the national nature reserves Praděd and Šerák-Keprník, where you must stay on the marked trails all year and bivouacking is not allowed at all. So check where the reserve boundary runs before you unroll your mat. In early April 2026 the snow on the ridge was easy going in ordinary hiking boots, and we needed neither microspikes nor snowshoes. Another year can look very different. The mountain rescue service Horská služba answers on 1210. Pack a headlamp too, because on 3 April the sun set over Keprník at 19:32.

If you have a spare day, there is a via ferrata in Ludvíkov on the eastern side of the range.