Other renewed wells will refresh you during your wanderings in the nature

This year, the Living Trails program is again focused on the renewal of route markings and the revitalization of wells alongside the most visited trails, which make it more pleasant for tourists and cyclists to get to know Slovak nature.

As part of the Living Trails program, which has been supported by the Ekopolis Foundation since 2008, volunteers are improving conditions for hiking and cycling in Slovakia thanks to grants. “Work on the restoration of wells and their premises is carried out by local volunteers, while the renewal of the signage is always done by authorized markers of the Slovak Tourist Club and the Slovak Cycling Club,” says Ján Roháč, program manager of the Living Trails program at the Ekopolis Foundation. Originally, the program only supported projects in national parks. Since 2012, the program has focused on the whole of Slovakia, and thanks to long-term cooperation with Horalky Sedita, more than 182 km of hiking and biking trails have been restored throughout Slovakia. In the current year, support goes to 7 attractive locations.

• Slovak Karst: Slovak Cycling Club Slovak Karst, Gemerská Hôrka – reconstruction of a popular and used karst spring in the village Gemerská Hôrka (Slovak Karst) and renewal of the marking of the cycling route in the section Brzotín – Čoltovo (23 km);
• White Carpathians: Slovak Tourist Club Horovce – modification of two springs near Horovce and their transformation into wells, modification of their surroundings, construction of seating for visitors, renewal of markings on the tourist route Lednické Rovne – Lednica (10 km)
• Levočské vrchy: Association for the Development of Mountain Cycling, Spišská Belá – construction of a well on a hitherto unused meadow spring near the Štopark locality, renewal of the marking of the cycle route from Štopark to Haligoviec (32 km)
• Javorie: Cyklo Adventure Zvolen association – repair of two wells and renewal of the marking of the tourist route from Kráľová to Neresnice (12 km)
• Vihorlat: Telekia association – renewal of two wells near Remetské Hámry and renewal of the tourist route marking from Remetské Hámry to Ruska Bystra (14 km)
• Považský Inovec: Slovak Tourists Club Piešťany – restoration of the Výtoky and Staroprameň springs and their areas, restoration of markings on the tourist route from Piešťany to Čertová pece (12 km) and on the cycling route in the Staroprameň area (4 km)
• Štiavnické vrchy: Krupina Slovak Tourists Club – reconstruction of two wells and their areas.

“Restoration of hiking and biking trails is especially valuable this year, when most of us will be vacationing in Slovakia. It will be a high burden for Slovak nature and that is why it is necessary to contribute to the maintenance of Slovakia’s family silver – a network of routes, thanks to which tourists and cyclists move safely through the Slovak mountains. We especially appreciate that despite the difficult economic situation caused by the COVID-19 epidemic, the reconstruction projects were once again supported by Horalky Sedita, which is an integral part of tourism in Slovakia, “concludes Roháč.