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83-439: In order to be classified as one of Scotland’s Great Trails, a route must fulfil certain criteria. The route must be at least 40 km (25 mi) in length, and be clearly waymarked with a dedicated symbol. It is expected that visitor services will be present along the way, and that the route will have an online presence to help visitors in planning their journey. Trails are required to run largely off-road, with less than 20% of

166-519: A red background, Regional Route numbers have a blue background. The system of symbols is based on that used by the Danish National Cycle Route network . The colour used may also indicate the status of the route, for example on rights of way in England and Wales yellow marks are used for footpaths, blue for bridleways, and red for byways open to all traffic. In addition to reassuring

249-463: A landmark" ( Oxford English Dictionary ). There are several ways of marking trails, including paint, carvings, affixed markers, posts, flagging, cairns, and crosses, with paint being the most widely used. A painted marking of a consistent shape or shapes (often rectangular), dimension and colour or combination of colours is used along the trail route. The system by which blazes are used to signify turns and endpoints in trails (see below) strongly favors

332-558: A liberal democracy through the Velvet Revolution . However, Slovak national aspirations strengthened ( Hyphen War ) and on 31 December 1992, the country peacefully split into the independent countries of the Czech Republic and Slovakia . Both countries went through economic reforms and privatizations , with the intention of creating a market economy , as they have been trying to do since 1990, when Czechs and Slovaks still shared

415-476: A minimum. By contrast, in a typical municipal, county , or state park , or any land open to a wide variety of users, or in a well-developed metropolitan area, blazes will be more frequent. Single-track hiking trails also receive more blazes than those that follow old roads or other more obvious routes. On a large piece of land, there is likely to be more than one trail. While it might seem obvious that, at minimum, trails should at least take different colours, this

498-542: A mostly temperate continental and oceanic climate . The capital and largest city is Prague ; other major cities and urban areas include Brno , Ostrava , Plzeň and Liberec . The Duchy of Bohemia was founded in the late 9th century under Great Moravia . It was formally recognized as an Imperial Estate of the Holy Roman Empire in 1002 and became a kingdom in 1198. Following the Battle of Mohács in 1526, all of

581-848: A mountain hiking trail in Japan. Red ribbons usually indicate an ascent route while yellow ribbon indicate a descent route. On some mountains, a non-standard ribbon colour (white or blue) is used to identify a specific trail. Poles, colored or not, are often used to keep the trail visible during winter and under snow cover. Poles are standard trail markers in Austria , Canada, USA, the Czech Republic , Switzerland , and Slovakia . Cairns are carefully arranged piles of stones. Cairns are most commonly used to indicate trails in open areas, such as higher-elevation alpine areas , where no trees are available, or where conditions may make blazes hard to see. An ancient example

664-769: A similar system of white and coloured stripes. Slovenia, Croatia and other former members of Yugoslavia use Knafelc trail blaze . In the United States and Canada , a single colour is used, usually white, red, blue or yellow. Trails in South Africa are often marked by yellow footprints painted on trees and rocks. In Israel , trails are marked by three stripes. A painted stripe surrounded by two white stripes can indicate length with black, green, blue, or red representing short (<10 km) trails, and purple or orange representing longer trails (60 to 100 km). In addition, some trails are represented by specific colour combinations such as

747-560: A single-party government was formed. For the next 41 years , the Czechoslovak Communist state conformed to Eastern Bloc economic and political features. The Prague Spring political liberalization was stopped by the 1968 Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia . Analysts believe that the invasion caused the communist movement to fracture, ultimately leading to the Revolutions of 1989. In November 1989, Czechoslovakia again became

830-828: A slightly staggered junction, only one trail may be signed, often with the longer or more heavily trafficked trail's blaze predominating. In other cases, such as southern Vermont where the Appalachian Trail and the Long Trail follow the same path, both trails may use the same white blaze. A quite different blazing system, called mute blazes was created in the Czech part of the Giant Mountains . The blazes, cut out of sheet metal and painted red, are suspended on high poles, thus being visible to both hikers and skiers. Unlike in classic systems, they do not refer to paths or trails, but show

913-506: A successful military commander and mercenary, led his group of forces in the Battle of Kutná Hora , resulting in a victory for the Hussites. He is honoured to this day as a national hero . After 1526, Bohemia came increasingly under Habsburg control as the Habsburgs became first the elected and then in 1627 the hereditary rulers of Bohemia. Between 1583 and 1611 Prague was the official seat of

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996-404: A trail besides those on foot. Another possible distinction is by season. In Norway, it is common to use blue for summer routes and red for winter routes. Red routes may traverse lakes and swamps, which are flat and well suited for cross-country skiing in winter, but impassable on foot in summer. Colours are often assigned simply with an eye toward making sure that no two trails that intersect use

1079-593: Is a pluralist multi-party parliamentary representative democracy . The Parliament ( Parlament České republiky ) is bicameral, with the Chamber of Deputies ( Czech : Poslanecká sněmovna , 200 members) and the Senate ( Czech : Senát , 81 members). The members of the Chamber of Deputies are elected for a four-year term by proportional representation , with a 5% election threshold . There are 14 voting districts, identical to

1162-573: Is also characterized by rain and storms. Autumn generally begins in September, which is still warm and dry. During October, temperatures usually fall below 15 °C (59 °F) or 10 °C (50 °F) and deciduous trees begin to shed their leaves. By the end of November, temperatures usually range around the freezing point. The coldest temperature ever measured was in Litvínovice near České Budějovice in 1929, at −42.2 °C (−44.0 °F) and

1245-462: Is modeled on the U.S. Senate , but each constituency is roughly the same size and the voting system used is a two-round runoff. The president is a formal head of state with limited and specific powers, who appoints the prime minister, as well the other members of the cabinet on a proposal by the prime minister. From 1993 until 2012, the President of the Czech Republic was selected by a joint session of

1328-547: Is not always done. In Mount Greylock State Reservation, which contains the highest mountain in Massachusetts , all trails other than the Appalachian Trail use the same blue blaze. Blaze type might also be mixed when different user groups (i.e., snowmobilers , horse riders , mountain bikers ) are allowed on trails. For users of faster vehicles, blazes are often larger in order to be seen better at high speeds, and sometimes affixed markers best communicate who may and may not use

1411-400: Is sometimes used to indicate trail routes, but usually only for temporary or unofficial trails, most commonly when a trail route has been selected but the trail itself is under construction. Flags are sometimes used for permanent trails, but they are the most vulnerable to the elements of any trail blazing method and may be more difficult to see. Trail flagging is the predominant method to mark

1494-746: Is the inuksuk (plural inuksuit), used by the Inuit , Inupiat , Kalaallit , Yupik , and other peoples of the Arctic region of North America. These structures are found from Alaska to Greenland . This region, above the Arctic Circle , is dominated by the tundra biome and has areas with few natural landmarks. Below the tree line, cairns are used less frequently, often like flagging to indicate informal or unofficial paths or just their junctions with official trails. They may become obscured by snow in areas with heavy winters and may be easily knocked over. In some areas

1577-411: Is the practice of marking paths in outdoor recreational areas with signs or markings that follow each other at certain, though not necessarily exactly defined, distances and mark the direction of the trail. A blaze in the beginning meant "a mark made on a tree by slashing the bark" ( The Canadian Oxford Dictionary ). Originally a waymark was "any conspicuous object which serves as a guide to travellers;

1660-569: The European Union  (green)  –  [ Legend ] The Czech Republic , also known as Czechia , and historically known as Bohemia , is a landlocked country in Central Europe . The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The Czech Republic has a hilly landscape that covers an area of 78,871 square kilometers (30,452 sq mi) with

1743-767: The European Union , NATO , the CIA , Google Maps , and the European Broadcasting Union . In 2022, the American AP Stylebook stated in its entry on the country that "both [Czechia and the Czech Republic] are acceptable. The shorter name Czechia is preferred by the Czech government. If using Czechia, clarify in the story that the country is more widely known in English as the Czech Republic." Archaeologists have found evidence of prehistoric human settlements in

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1826-796: The Holy Roman Empire in 1806 led to degradation of the political status of Bohemia which lost its position of an electorate of the Holy Roman Empire as well as its own political representation in the Imperial Diet . Bohemian lands became part of the Austrian Empire . During the 18th and 19th century the Czech National Revival began its rise, with the purpose to revive Czech language , culture, and national identity. The Revolution of 1848 in Prague, striving for liberal reforms and autonomy of

1909-780: The Human Development Index . The Czech Republic is a member of the United Nations , NATO , the European Union , the OECD , the OSCE , the Council of Europe and the Visegrád Group . The traditional English name "Bohemia" derives from Latin : Boiohaemum , which means "home of the Boii " (a Gallic tribe). The current English name ultimately comes from the Czech word Čech . The name comes from

1992-641: The Hussite Wars (1419–1434) defeated five crusades organized against them by Sigismund . During the next two centuries, 90% of the population in Bohemia and Moravia were considered Hussites . The pacifist thinker Petr Chelčický inspired the movement of the Moravian Brethren (by the middle of the 15th century) that completely separated from the Roman Catholic Church. On 21 December 1421, Jan Žižka ,

2075-838: The Lands of the Bohemian Crown were gradually integrated into the Habsburg monarchy . Nearly a hundred years later, the Protestant Bohemian Revolt led to the Thirty Years' War . After the Battle of White Mountain , the Habsburgs consolidated their rule. With the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the Crown lands became part of the Austrian Empire . In the 19th century, the Czech lands became more industrialized; further, in 1918, most of

2158-493: The OECD . The Czech Republic joined NATO on 12 March 1999 and the European Union on 1 May 2004. On 21 December 2007 the Czech Republic joined the Schengen Area . Until 2017, either the centre-left Czech Social Democratic Party or the centre-right Civic Democratic Party led the governments of the Czech Republic. In October 2017, the populist movement ANO 2011 , led by the country's second-richest man, Andrej Babiš , won

2241-798: The Oder River ( Czech : Odra ). Water from the Czech Republic flows to three different seas: the North Sea , Baltic Sea , and Black Sea . The Czech Republic also leases the Moldauhafen , a 30,000-square-meter (7.4-acre) lot in the middle of the Hamburg Docks, which was awarded to Czechoslovakia by Article 363 of the Treaty of Versailles , to allow the landlocked country a place where goods transported down river could be transferred to seagoing ships. The territory reverts to Germany in 2028. Phytogeographically ,

2324-718: The Pennine Way between the Anglo-Scottish border and Kirk Yetholm lies within Scotland , although it is designated as one of the National Trails of England . The route of each of the Great Trails is marked with coloured diamonds on Ordnance Survey Explorer (1:25000) and Landranger (1:50000) maps; the SGT logo of a thistle within a hexagon is also used to highlight the routes at

2407-467: The elections with three times more votes than its closest rival, the Civic Democrats. In December 2017, Czech president Miloš Zeman appointed Andrej Babiš as the new prime minister. In the 2021 elections , ANO 2011 was narrowly defeated and Petr Fiala became the new prime minister. He formed a government coalition of the alliance SPOLU ( Civic Democratic Party , KDU-ČSL and TOP 09 ) and

2490-552: The 13th century. The Mongols in the invasion of Europe carried their raids into Moravia but were defensively defeated at Olomouc . After a series of dynastic wars, the House of Luxembourg gained the Bohemian throne. Efforts for a reform of the church in Bohemia started already in the late 14th century. Jan Hus ' followers seceded from some practices of the Roman Church and in

2573-536: The 1:25000 scale. The trails grew out of the Long Distance Routes (LDRs), which were proposed and financially supported by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), and administered and maintained by the local authorities. The Countryside (Scotland) Act 1967 provided the legal basis for the Long Distance Routes, but the first one was not opened officially until 1980. By 2010 there were four LDRs: Following

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2656-685: The 8th century. It reached its zenith in the 9th (during the reign of Svatopluk I of Moravia ), holding off the influence of the Franks. Great Moravia was Christianized, with a role being played by the Byzantine mission of Cyril and Methodius . They codified the Old Church Slavonic language, the first literary and liturgical language of the Slavs , and the Glagolitic script . The Duchy of Bohemia emerged in

2739-538: The Bohemian Crown within the Austrian Empire, was suppressed. It seemed that some concessions would be made also to Bohemia, but in the end, the Emperor Franz Joseph I affected a compromise with Hungary only. The Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 and the never realized coronation of Franz Joseph as King of Bohemia led to a disappointment of some Czech politicians. The Bohemian Crown lands became part of

2822-529: The Crown of Saint Wenceslaus . When the country regained its independence after the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian empire in 1918, the new name of Czechoslovakia was coined to reflect the union of the Czech and Slovak nations within one country. After Czechoslovakia dissolved on the last day of 1992, Česko was adopted as the Czech short name for the new state and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of

2905-470: The Czech Republic recommended Czechia for the English-language equivalent. This form was not widely adopted at the time, leading to the long name Czech Republic being used in English in nearly all circumstances. The Czech government directed use of Czechia as the official English short name in 2016. The short name has been listed by the United Nations and is used by other organizations such as

2988-717: The Czech Republic belongs to the Central European province of the Circumboreal Region , within the Boreal Kingdom . According to the World Wide Fund for Nature , the territory of the Czech Republic can be subdivided into four ecoregions : the Western European broadleaf forests , Central European mixed forests , Pannonian mixed forests , and Carpathian montane conifer forests . There are four national parks in

3071-608: The Czech Republic. The oldest is Krkonoše National Park ( Biosphere Reserve ), and the others are Šumava National Park (Biosphere Reserve), Podyjí National Park , and Bohemian Switzerland . The three historical lands of the Czech Republic (formerly some countries of the Bohemian Crown) correspond with the river basins of the Elbe and the Vltava basin for Bohemia, the Morava one for Moravia, and

3154-637: The Golan Trail (white, blue, green), the Jerusalem Trail (blue, gold, blue), and the Israel National Trail (white, blue, orange). Blazes may also be painted on obvious rock surfaces or on posts set into the ground (or on utility poles, fences, or other handy surfaces) where the trail follows a road or goes through fields and meadows. In North America, Australia and New Zealand, there are trails blazed by cuts made in bark by axe or knife, usually

3237-611: The Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II and his court. The Defenestration of Prague and subsequent revolt against the Habsburgs in 1618 marked the start of the Thirty Years' War . In 1620, the rebellion in Bohemia was crushed at the Battle of White Mountain and the ties between Bohemia and the Habsburgs' hereditary lands in Austria were strengthened. The leaders of the Bohemian Revolt were executed in 1621 . The nobility and

3320-443: The Oder river basin for Czech Silesia (in terms of the Czech territory). The Czech Republic has a temperate climate, situated in the transition zone between the oceanic and continental climate types, with warm summers and cold, cloudy and snowy winters. The temperature difference between summer and winter is due to the landlocked geographical position. Temperatures vary depending on the elevation. In general, at higher altitudes,

3403-455: The Slavic tribe ( Czech : Češi, Čechové ) and, according to legend, their leader Čech , who brought them to Bohemia, to settle on Říp Mountain. The etymology of the word Čech can be traced back to the Proto-Slavic root * čel- , meaning "member of the people; kinsman", thus making it cognate to the Czech word člověk (a person). The country has been traditionally divided into three lands, namely Bohemia ( Čechy ) in

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3486-445: The US, generally for a much smaller rock pile than a cairn, typically stacked just high enough to convince the observer it is not natural. For most, two rocks stacked could be a coincidence, but three rocks stacked is a duck. In some regions, ducks also contain a pointer rock (or a couple of stacked rocks) to indicate the direction of the trail. A wayside cross is a cross by a footpath , track or road , at an intersection, along

3569-442: The alliance of Pirates and Mayors . In January 2023, retired general Petr Pavel won the presidential election , becoming new Czech president to succeed Miloš Zeman. Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine , the country took in half a million Ukrainian refugees , the largest number per capita in the world. The Czech Republic lies mostly between latitudes 48° and 51° N and longitudes 12° and 19° E . Bohemia , to

3652-400: The ambiguity of this historical period. Ottoman Turks and Tatars invaded Moravia in 1663. In 1679–1680 the Czech lands faced the Great Plague of Vienna and an uprising of serfs. There were peasant uprisings influenced by famine. Serfdom was abolished between 1781 and 1848. Several battles of the Napoleonic Wars took place on the current territory of the Czech Republic. The end of

3735-418: The area, dating back to the Paleolithic era. In the classical era , as a result of the 3rd century BC Celtic migrations, Bohemia became associated with the Boii . The Boii founded an oppidum near the site of modern Prague. Later in the 1st century, the Germanic tribes of the Marcomanni and Quadi settled there. Slavs from the Black Sea – Carpathian region settled in the area (their migration

3818-403: The blaze, the rectangle is cut into an arrow, to indicate direction. A diagonal cross is used to indicate a direction should not be taken: the cross will have the same colours as the blazes (each bar will use a different colour). [REDACTED] Media related to Trail blazing at Wikimedia Commons Czech Republic – in Europe  (green & dark gray) – in

3901-400: The common state. This process was largely successful; in 2006 the Czech Republic was recognized by the World Bank as a "developed country", and in 2009 the Human Development Index ranked it as a nation of "Very High Human Development". From 1991, the Czech Republic, originally as part of Czechoslovakia and since 1993 in its own right, has been a member of the Visegrád Group and from 1995,

3984-398: The country became part of the First Czechoslovak Republic following the collapse of Austria-Hungary after World War I . Czechoslovakia was the only country in Central and Eastern Europe to remain a parliamentary democracy during the entirety of the interwar period . After the Munich Agreement in 1938, Nazi Germany systematically took control over the Czech lands. Czechoslovakia

4067-404: The country's administrative regions. The Chamber of Deputies, the successor to the Czech National Council , has the powers and responsibilities of the now defunct federal parliament of the former Czechoslovakia. The members of the Senate are elected in single-seat constituencies by two-round runoff voting for a six-year term, with one-third elected every even year in the autumn. This arrangement

4150-437: The country, first as a result of local acts of violence and then under the aegis of an "organized transfer" confirmed by the Soviet Union, the United States, and Great Britain at the Potsdam Conference . In the 1946 elections , the Communist Party gained 38% of the votes and became the largest party in the Czechoslovak parliament, formed a coalition with other parties, and consolidated power. A coup d'état came in 1948 and

4233-466: The edge of a field or in a forest, which often serve as waymarks for walkers and pilgrims or designate dangerous places. They are particularly common in Europe, for example in Germany , Galicia and the Alps . It can be made of wood, stone or metal. Most wayside crosses are designed as crucifixes . In US wilderness areas , whether state or federal, the US Wilderness Act requires that the land seems "untrammeled by man," and so blazes are often kept to

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4316-480: The extermination, expulsion, Germanization or enslavement of most or all Czechs for the purpose of providing more living space for the German people. There was Czechoslovak resistance to Nazi occupation as well as reprisals against the Czechoslovaks for their anti-Nazi resistance. The German occupation ended on 9 May 1945, with the arrival of the Soviet and American armies and the Prague uprising . Most of Czechoslovakia's German-speakers were forcibly expelled from

4399-447: The former. Most often these are informal routes made by loggers or hunters , or trails descended from those routes. Originally a tree would be blazed by hatchet chops (still the dictionary definition) but today other methods have become more common, with environmental and aesthetic concerns sometimes playing a part in the choice of blazing method. Other navigational aids, such as cairns , are used where blazes are unsuitable. In 1902

4482-435: The hottest measured, was at 40.4 °C (104.7 °F) in Dobřichovice in 2012. Most rain falls during the summer. Sporadic rainfall is throughout the year (in Prague, the average number of days per month experiencing at least 0.1 mm (0.0039 in) of rain varies from 12 in September and October to 16 in November) but concentrated rainfall (days with more than 10 mm (0.39 in) per day) are more frequent in

4565-400: The late 9th century when it was unified by the Přemyslid dynasty . Bohemia was from 1002 until 1806 an Imperial Estate of the Holy Roman Empire . In 1212, Přemysl Ottokar I extracted the Golden Bull of Sicily from the emperor, confirming Ottokar and his descendants' royal status; the Duchy of Bohemia was raised to a Kingdom . German immigrants settled in the Bohemian periphery in

4648-406: The lead. This new country incorporated the Bohemian Crown . The First Czechoslovak Republic comprised only 27% of the population of the former Austria-Hungary, but nearly 80% of the industry, which enabled it to compete with Western industrial states. In 1929 compared to 1913, the gross domestic product increased by 52% and industrial production by 41%. In 1938 Czechoslovakia held 10th place in

4731-420: The lowlands of the South Moravian Region , the average temperature is as high as 10 °C (50 °F). The country's capital, Prague, has a similar average temperature, although this is influenced by urban factors. The coldest month is usually January, followed by February and December. During these months, there is snow in the mountains and sometimes in the cities and lowlands. During March, April, and May,

4814-471: The middle class Protestants had to either convert to Catholicism or leave the country. The following era of 1620 to the late 18th century became known as the "Dark Age". During the Thirty Years' War, the population of the Czech lands declined by a third through the expulsion of Czech Protestants as well as due to the war, disease and famine . The Habsburgs prohibited all Christian confessions other than Catholicism . The flowering of Baroque culture shows

4897-570: The miners of Idaho created and marked the Three Blaze "shortcut" Trail with a series of three distinctive blazes cut on the trees, usually with an axe, to define the specific route to the Thunder Mountain Mines of Central Idaho. Alternatively, more long lasting plastic, metal or even sometimes wooden markers may be affixed to trees, usually with nails. The placement of these markers requires more skill and labor than paint, as well as an area with an abundant supply of trees to which to attach them. Surveyor 's tape hung from branches or tied around trees

4980-684: The months of May to August (average around two such days per month). Severe thunderstorms , producing damaging straight-line winds, hail , and occasional tornadoes occur, especially during the summer period. As of 2020, the Czech Republic ranks as the 21st most environmentally conscious country in the world in Environmental Performance Index . It had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 1.71/10, ranking it 160th globally out of 172 countries. The Czech Republic has four National Parks ( Šumava National Park , Krkonoše National Park , České Švýcarsko National Park , Podyjí National Park ) and 25 Protected Landscape Areas. The Czech Republic

5063-450: The parliament for a five-year term, with no more than two consecutive terms ( Václav Havel and Václav Klaus were both elected twice). Since 2013, the president has been elected directly. Some commentators have argued that, with the introduction of direct election of the President, the Czech Republic has moved away from the parliamentary system and towards a semi-presidential one. The Government 's exercise of executive power derives from

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5146-572: The passage of the Land Reform Act (Scotland) 2003 , the public has a right to responsible access to most land in Scotland, in accordance with the Scottish Outdoor Access Code . Access rights for new routes therefore largely no longer required to be negotiated and many named walks have been developed by local authorities, tourist organisations and guidebook authors. In 2010 SNH decided that it would not formally designate any further LDRs, but would instead encourage more locally-based proposals for new routes for long-distance footpaths. Within this approach it

5229-422: The recreational building of numerous cairns has obscured the proper use of cairns to mark junctions and crossings. In some areas of the United States, park rangers and land managers must disassemble excess cairns when they become eyesores or when they mislead navigation. Where rocks are scarce, poles can be used. Poles are also frequently used to mark ski and snow shoe trails. Duck is a term used in some parts of

5312-446: The region into the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia . The Protectorate was proclaimed part of the Third Reich, and the president and prime minister were subordinated to Nazi Germany's Reichsprotektor . One Nazi concentration camp was located within the Czech territory at Terezín , north of Prague. The vast majority of the Protectorate's Jews were murdered in Nazi-run concentration camps . The Nazi Generalplan Ost called for

5395-442: The route on tarmac . NatureScot is the custodian of the Scotland's Great Trails brand, maintaining the official list and providing some finance and publicity, the responsibility however for creating and maintaining each route lies with the local authorities through which a route passes. There are 29 routes, providing 3,000 km (1,900 mi) of trails in total. Additionally, the northernmost 10 kilometres (6 mi) section of

5478-408: The same one, but it can go further than that. On all state land in New York 's Catskill Park , for instance, primary trails, especially longer "trunk trails" that go great distances, use red markers if they go in a generally east–west direction and blue if they go north–south. Shorter spur, loop or connector trails generally use yellow blazes. On occasions when two trails run concurrently, usually at

5561-418: The so-called Cisleithania . The Czech Social Democratic and progressive politicians started the fight for universal suffrage. The first elections under universal male suffrage were held in 1907. In 1918, during the collapse of the Habsburg monarchy at the end of World War I, the independent republic of Czechoslovakia , which joined the winning Allied powers, was created, with Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk in

5644-411: The temperature usually increases, especially during April, when the temperature and weather tends to vary during the day. Spring is also characterized by higher water levels in the rivers, due to melting snow with occasional flooding. The warmest month of the year is July, followed by August and June. On average, summer temperatures are about 20–30 °C (36–54 °F) higher than during winter. Summer

5727-407: The temperatures decrease and precipitation increases. The wettest area in the Czech Republic is found around Bílý Potok in Jizera Mountains and the driest region is the Louny District to the northwest of Prague . Another factor is the distribution of the mountains. At the highest peak of Sněžka (1,603 m or 5,259 ft), the average temperature is −0.4 °C (31 °F), whereas in

5810-418: The trail user that they are on the trail, the signage can alert them to imminent turns, particularly if there is some confusion about what might be the trail, and where trails begin and end. Offset blazes is a system whereby a vertically stacked pair of blazes with the upper one offset in the direction that the trail turns. This system was first used in 1970 on the Beech Trail in Harriman State Park. This system

5893-406: The two blazes indicating the angle and direction of the turn. Also, a few trails indicate turns with two stacked blazes, without an offset, but this can cause confusion as the direction is not implied. In addition, other trails may use two non-offset stacked blazes to indicate the trail goes straight at a location where there may be a tempting mis-turn. A triangular pattern with its point to the side

5976-429: The use of paint blazes. European countries usually use systems of painted bars or shapes in more than one colour. The Czech Hiking Markers System uses three bars – usually one color in between two white bars, with different meanings attached to different colours – in a 10 cm x 10 cm square. Red is often used to mark difficult or summit trails. Arrows of similar design signal a change of direction. This system

6059-487: The way to the nearest mountain huts and adjacent towns and villages with the possibility of overnighting and catering. National Trails in England and Wales generally use an acorn symbol. The National Cycle Network in the United Kingdom is signposted using a white bicycle symbol on a blue background, with a white route number in an inset box, but with no destination names or distances. National Route numbers have

6142-409: The west, Moravia ( Morava ) in the east, and Czech Silesia ( Slezsko ; the smaller, south-eastern part of historical Silesia , most of which is located within modern Poland) in the northeast. Known as the lands of the Bohemian Crown since the 14th century, a number of other names for the country have been used, including Czech/Bohemian lands , Bohemian Crown , Czechia , and the lands of

6225-655: The west, consists of a basin drained by the Elbe ( Czech : Labe ) and the Vltava rivers, surrounded by mostly low mountains, such as the Krkonoše range of the Sudetes . The highest point in the country, Sněžka at 1,603 m (5,259 ft), is located here. Moravia, the eastern part of the country, is also hilly. It is drained mainly by the Morava River , but it also contains the source of

6308-565: The world industrial production. Czechoslovakia was the only country in Central and Eastern Europe to remain a liberal democracy throughout the entire interwar period. Although the First Czechoslovak Republic was a unitary state , it provided certain rights to its minorities, the largest being Germans (23.6% in 1921), Hungarians (5.6%) and Ukrainians (3.5%). Western Czechoslovakia was occupied by Nazi Germany , which placed most of

6391-566: Was also devised for eventualities like spurs or junctions, but these have not caught on. In some areas, a triangular pattern with its point up indicates that a hiker is at the point of a sharp switchback. In the Netherlands, signage usually consist of two bars above each other: white-red, yellow-red and red-blue are commonly seen blazes. An upcoming turn is indicated by duplicating the blazes: white-red-white-red, yellow-red-yellow-red, etc. Nowadays, stickers are often used, and instead of duplicating

6474-538: Was first used in today's Czech Republic in May 1889, to mark a trail from the town of Štěchovice to a nearby spring. Today there are 42,000 km (26,000 mi) of marked trails in the Czech Republic. This system is used also in Slovakia , Ukraine , Croatia , Romania , Albania , Brazil , Philippines and Mongolia . Poland , Bulgaria and Georgia used very similar system. French, Italian, Austrian and Swiss trails use

6557-416: Was further refined to where a triangular pattern of blazes would indicate a terminus, its point up or down depending on whether that was the beginning or the end. These began to be used elsewhere and are now fairly common throughout North America, though variations of this system exist. Some trails instead use two blazes painted together at an angle to form an "L" shape to indicate a turn, with the angle between

6640-406: Was peacefully dissolved , with its constituent states becoming the independent states of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Czech Republic is a unitary parliamentary republic and developed country with an advanced , high-income social market economy . It is a welfare state with a European social model , universal health care and free-tuition university education . It ranks 32nd in

6723-742: Was pushed by an invasion of peoples from Siberia and Eastern Europe into their area: Huns , Avars , Bulgars and Magyars ). In the sixth century, the Huns had moved westwards into Bohemia, Moravia, and some of present-day Austria and Germany. During the 7th century, the Frankish merchant Samo , supporting the Slavs fighting against nearby settled Avars , became the ruler of the first documented Slavic state in Central Europe, Samo's Empire . The principality of Great Moravia , controlled by Moymir dynasty , arose in

6806-468: Was recognised that there was a need for a strong "brand identity" to aid marketing of Scotland’s longer distance routes internationally. Minimum standards would be applied in the selection of these branded routes, which would take account of factors such as: "Scotland's Great Trails" was chosen as the brand identity, and as of 2018 there were 29 officially recognised Great Trails. As of April 2024. Trail blazing Trail blazing or way marking

6889-460: Was restored in 1945 and three years later became an Eastern Bloc communist state following a coup d'état in 1948. Attempts to liberalize the government and economy were suppressed by a Soviet -led invasion of the country during the Prague Spring in 1968. In November 1989, the Velvet Revolution ended communist rule in the country and restored democracy . On 31 December 1992, Czechoslovakia

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