New lookout tower on Velká Deštná will open on Saturday

Deštné v Orlických horách - The lookout tower at Velká Deštná in the Orlické Mountains is finished. The grand opening is scheduled for Saturday, October 26th. Until then, people should not enter the fenced area around the construction site, said Alena Křížová, the mayor of Deštné in the Orlické Mountains, to ČTK. The eighteen-meter-high lookout tower with a steel structure was built at an altitude of 1115 meters at the highest peak of the Orlické Mountains for approximately five million crowns. Admission will be free.

The grand opening of the lookout tower will be preceded by a hike to Velká Deštná from the parking lot at Šerlich on Saturday morning. "The start of the ascent to the lookout tower is at 10:00. There will be surprises for children along the route. The opening of the lookout tower is planned for 12:00," Křížová told ČTK.

On Saturday, shuttle bus service will be provided between Deštné and Šerlich to ease parking congestion. The event will take place regardless of the weather. "We urge visitors to wait until Saturday and not to enter the fenced area around the lookout tower," Křížová told ČTK.

The lookout tower was built on the footprint of an irregular pentagon, with concrete foundations constructed over the summer. The steel structure was assembled by builders in a company hall and then completed on-site like a construction kit. The transport of the structure to Velká Deštná was facilitated by an asphalt road leading from Šerlich, but it is closed to regular traffic. The structure was covered with wood.

The municipality of Deštné in the Orlické Mountains has been striving for a lookout tower at Velká Deštná for several years. "The lookout tower at Velká Deštná historically belongs there. We are pleased that we agreed on this with Count Jan Egon Kolowrat, who donated the land to the municipality and thus enabled the construction of the lookout tower. We were in agreement with the landowner and the CHKO Administration," Křížová told ČTK.

In the past, there were several simple wooden viewpoints at Velká Deštná resembling hunting hides. The last one was removed nine years ago.

The lookout tower at Velká Deštná is one of four new lookout towers planned in the Hradec Králové Region and is part of a project to restore the ridge trail in the Czech-Polish border area with financial support from the EU. The remaining three lookout towers from the project will be built above Nový Hrádek, near Olešnice in the Orlické Mountains, and in Vysoká Srbská.