Krzysztof Kołodziejczyk

In recent years, a considerable development of the network of hiking trails has taken place in selected parts of the Sudetes. This has occurred both in areas of hitherto poorly developed tourist infrastructure (for example the Orlickie Foothills) as well as in traditional tourist regions with a quite good base (for example the Sowie Mountains). It was  decided to analyse more precisely the changes which occurred in 2005–2017 in selected parts of the Middle Sudetes. For this purpose, changes in the density and connectivity of the networks of hiking trails were assessed using elements of the graph theory and, drawn from it, indices used in the topological analysis of spatial structure. A  comparative analysis of maps was the basis for these works. Important factors deciding about the validity of marking new hiking trails are: their role in the network of trails and their tourist attractiveness. Those were evaluated using field works and an analysis of maps and tourist (sightseeing) literature. An additional aim was to examine ways of tracing new trails and changing routes of those already existing, taking into account the guidelines for hiking trails presented in literature. Marking new trails has undoubtedly enabled the development of networks, but not necessarily resulted in their higher connectivity (new sections of trails resulted in a higher number of nodes). However, new tourist values have been made accessible (especially scenic and cultural ones) and planning hikes has become simpler, which is particularly important in the vicinity of spas. New hiking trails and changes of routes of those existing earlier must be assessed positively in terms of the relation between natural and artificial (hard) surfaces.

Located in the Czech Western Sudetes, the Izerskie Mountains Landscape Park has a quite developed network of tourist trails. Among them are hiking trails, which were analysed in this article. The density of this network was examined with reference to the natural conditions, tourist attractiveness of certain parts of the park and directions of tourist movement. Using coefficients connected with the graph theory the connectivity and the type of the network was defined. The course of the trails was analysed in comparison with the distribution of the most valuable areas (nature reserves), tourist infrastructure was also taken into account. Besides methods connected with the graph theory the analysis of tourist maps (including comparative analysis of maps from different periods) and results of field studies focused on inventory of types of trail’s surface and connected infrastructure were used in the paper. A stress was laid on changes introduced in the network in recent years (new trails and changes of course of those already existing), which resulted in reduction in the length of sections having asphalt or concrete surface and sections of combined course of trails intended for different forms of tourism. The network of hiking trails in the Izerskie Mountains Landscape Park can be assessed as proper and being a source of some good standards.

The paper presents the development of hiking tourist trails network in the vicinity of the Polish-Czechoslovakia border (from the beginning of 1993 the Polish-Czech border) in the Sudetes in the period from 1945 till 2013. A comparison of Polish and Czechoslovak (Czech) trails offer was presented, as well as the route of some trails was criticised. In order to attain this a comparative analysis of historical and present-day tourist maps was conducted, however also hitherto existing literature concerning the history of tourism in the Sudetes was used. The analysis of recent changes in the network was possible thanks to field studies. The development of tourist trails networks on both sides of the state border in the Sudetes was highly dependent on the political situation and restrictions concerning people’s stay within the border zone. Therefore three main periods of the development of trails networks can be distinguished: (a) period before 1989, when the restrictions were most rigorous (especially from the end of 1946 till 1956), (b) period after 1989, when the rules were significantly softened, however free wandering in the border zone and crossing the border was still impossible, and finally (c) the present period after the end of 2007, when Poland and the Czech Republic became a part of the Schengen area and all formal barriers were abolished. The present legal conditions enable a reorganisation and integration of tourist trails networks, up till now developing separately in both countries. Because of that the present-day lay-out of tourist trails along the Polish-Czech border cannot be considered as final.