Kotvice Educational Trail

The Kotvice Educational Trail leads through one of the most valuable areas of the Poodří Protected Landscape Area. It focuses on the floodplain landscape with typical floodplain forests, the lowland character of the meandering Odra River (with many bends in the flat terrain), the system of old branches and pools with permanent and periodic water levels and the historically long-standing use of the area also as meadows and ponds.

The floodplain forest is most beautiful in spring, when most of the herbs bloom. It takes on its colourful splendour in autumn, when each tree dyes its leaves a different shade of the colour palette. The ponds are very rich in waterfowl, which nest in them, and in the spring and autumn they are enriched by species that just wander through the area from south to north and back again. In summer, the water surfaces are covered with very rare plants that are only found in still waters. These are, for example, the floating anchor (Trapa natans), after which the pond is named, but also the Kotvice nature reserve.

The Odra River is interesting in all seasons with its meandering course and beautiful bank vegetation, but it attracts observers most when there is more water. The pools and old river arms are a rewarding object of observation at the time of the flowering of the yellow coneflower, the emblematic flower of the Poodří Protected Landscape Area. At this time of year, a large number of different species of dragonflies and other insects can be seen above the water surface; on the leaves floating on the water surface we can see most often the screech owls, in the meadow vegetation or on the bushes the attentive visitor can also see common sundews.

The meadows themselves, now free of fertilisation again, begin to burst into colour in May, are in full bloom in June and again in late July and August. The educational trail is accessible by bus from the bus stop in Nová Horka, or from the ČD station in Studénka, by turning off the yellow tourist marker along the old “Štramberská track” to the Kotvice pond.

The visitor who knows how to be quiet in nature will find a lot of interesting things to do there in every season, except for the water spills during the annual flooding of the Odra floodplain.

Length (km)	3,6
Number of stops	10
Start	Pod mlýnem under Nová Horka
Finnish	At the Pásečný most in Studénka, where the lake joins the Mlýnka
Theme/focus	the trail focuses on floodplain ecosystems with characteristics of floodplain forests, ponds, meadow communities, permanent and periodic pools of the Odra River, with a list of typical plant and animal species
Type of trail	for pedestrians only
Difficulty	physically undemanding, route on flat terrain
Tour time (approximate)	3-4 hours according to the people