• Camping, according to the provisions of the Forestry Act No. 289/1995 Coll. and in the Nature Protection Act No. 114/1992 Coll. means "staying the night with increased comfort using a shelter, especially a tent, and other accompanying activities, such as food preparation, hygiene, garbage disposal, etc." Camping is therefore not just the sleepover itself, but also the activities associated with the sleepover.
• While staying the night is defined by law as "staying the night in the open with reduced comfort without using a shelter, without making a fire and without leaving any rubbish at the place of stay." On a lot of treks that in the Adventurer app you will find, there are directly marked places suitable for sleeping, by which we mean bivouac. So be responsible and respect the law. Not only will you avoid unnecessarily heated situations, but above all you will not harm nature.
• What do you associate camping with? Tent, food preparation, washing clothes, personal hygiene, production and subsequent disposal of waste (even biological), increased comfort, fire.
• What do you associate bivouac with? No tent, sleeping bag, reduced comfort, only for one night, no fire, no waste (even biological), freedom and freedom.

Considering that the Adventurer app includes treks from National Parks, Protected Landscape Areas and nature reserves, let's explain the basic rules of behavior in these areas.

Overnight stay in the forests and in the territory of the Czech Republic

If we go straight to the point - spending the night in the forest is green in our territory. Of course, there are certain exceptions that can be easily deduced. To be sure, we will repeat here the rules for spending the night and moving in nature:

Apart from the mentioned exceptions, you have the right to move, as long as you do not damage the territory in any way.

As far as forests are concerned, you can put your head in the moss basically anywhere within the normal right to enter the forest (use of the forest).

In the forest, it is also allowed to collect mushrooms and forest fruits and take away tongs up to 7 cm in diameter, which are dry, without bark and lying on the ground. However, what is not allowed, and you should respect this, is to damage and split the forest or maintain an open fire up to a distance of 50 meters from the edge of the forest.

However, pay attention to one thing: spending the night can be restricted during the period when access to the forest is restricted, as we can learn from the Forest Service, this is primarily for necessary forest maintenance, logging, or hunting. It is always necessary to find out this information before entering a certain area, and if it is explicitly written on the road that it is forbidden to enter the given area - it is an obligation to respect this provision for the sake of our health. You certainly don't want a hunter to mistake you for a pheasant and shoot at you, do you? Safety above all adventurers!

Overnight in PLA

In the case of a bivouac in the PLA, we will be guided by the already mentioned Act No. 114/1192 Coll. on nature and landscape protection. In it, we find things that are expressly prohibited, such as "camping and making fires outside the places reserved with the consent of the nature protection authority in the entire territory of the national park (NP), protected landscape area (PLA) and national nature reserve (NPR)".

Simply put - you can spend the night almost anywhere, as long as you leave no traces behind, leave the place of sleep as soon as possible in the morning and do not harm the nature around you. First of all, by making a fire.

The above applies in general to the PLA, but it is necessary to know that there may be national nature reserves (NPR) in the territory of the PLA, in which the rules do not differ from the National Park and according to Act No. 114/1992 Coll. movement outside the marked paths is also prohibited here.

Representatives of individual PLAs agree that NPRs are often the most attractive locations. In the Adventurer application, you will only find places that are suitable for sleeping and do not violate any law and do not threaten nature. Our main concern is to preserve nature in the best possible condition for other generations as well.

Overnight in the National Park

In the national parks, of which we have a total of four in the Czech Republic (Krkonoše, Šumava, České Švýcarsko, Podyjí), the strictest rules for movement apply. You can move here primarily only along the marked routes.

The Act on the Protection of Nature and Landscape indirectly prohibits overnight stays, in the form of a ban on public access to the landscape outside of marked tourist routes, specifically to the 1st zone of the National Park with a possible extension to the entire territory of the National Park (outside the built-up area of ​​municipalities).

The main reason for this restriction is the risk of damage to the territory. This is, of course, understandable, given that national parks are protected mainly because of the unique flora and fauna that is unique to the area and could be disturbed by the presence of man.

The administration of the NP Šumava took it very well, having built emergency shelters along the main red route, where it is possible to pitch a tent or set up a bivouac. These lodgings are undoubtedly a way to open the NP Šumava to more people and make it much more accessible. Emergency shelters only work for sleeping, i.e. for one night.

A complete ban on all overnight stays was issued by NP České Švýcarsko, where overnight stays have been prohibited since 2000, not only in the visitor regulations, but also in law. The reason is primarily the disturbance of more sensitive species of animals by the presence of humans.

In the Krkonošské NP, you have a dense network of mountain huts where you can always spend the night.

How to do it? Selection of suitable equipment

Now that we have explained where to bivouac and where it is better to avoid it, let's talk about what is needed for such a trek that involves sleeping in the open.

As already said – a fire must not be made while bivouacing, which suggests that we will need to somehow arrange the heat emitted by the fire. A well-chosen sleeping bag, whose specifications should correspond to the relevant weather and temperatures encountered on the trek, will serve this purpose. You definitely don't need to take an extra warm sleeping bag for a trek in the Jizera Mountains in the summer, but there are definitely areas where this sleeping bag will come in handy.

A great choice for people who don't want to drag unnecessarily heavy things and want to enjoy the trek "lightly" as much as possible, is the so-called "duck bag". It is a waterproof bag into which you put a sleeping bag and a mat. Thanks to the bag, you are protected from the rain without having to carry a tent with you. The barbecue can be set up anywhere and is significantly lighter than a tent.

An adventurous choice can also be a hammock, which you just need to stretch between two trees and sleep is taken care of.

You want to cook something, but you can't start a fire, how do you do it? You should also get a good quality gas stove. You will find a really wide variety of them on the market, so you definitely have a lot to choose from. Using the cooker is very simple and quick. In addition, compared to making a fire, you don't have to clean the fire pit or collect wood. A gas stove is therefore a necessary basis for bivouacing. But beware, in some areas even this helper is not allowed to be used.

Also pay attention to the packaging and pack wisely. Bivouac is all about freedom and freedom, so leave things you don't absolutely need at home. You will see how relieved you are! A bivouac is a great way to get closer to nature and get away from the daily stress that these days bring us.

You mainly need a sleeping bag, a mat and a gas stove for preparing food, or a duffel bag for protection from the rain. And that's all! Sleeping in the open air has its charm and if you prepare well, you will save yourself a lot of unnecessary extra burden.