Those who once visited the flooded quarries of Great and Small America, like to return to these destinations. In every season, there is something to admire.
The Small America quarry is less than two kilometres from Great America.
Great America is a flooded limestone quarry that stands out like a turquoise blue eye in the surrounding landscape thanks to the clear water. Its dimensions are also impressive, roughly 800 metres long, 200 metres wide, and extending to a depth of 100 metres!
However, we will not invite you to swim; the gate to the quarry is permanently closed. Some daredevils try to rappel into the quarry, but unfortunately, this ends in a number of serious accidents every year. Therefore, seeing the lake only from the loop trail that runs along its perimeter is better.
This unique place has been under the lens of film studios’ cameras several times, where Lemonade Joe, The Accumulator, and the historical drama Jan Žižka were filmed.
But it also has a dark past. In the 1950s, the quarry became a destination station for 2,000 political prisoners who had to endure harsh working conditions and cruel treatment by the guards. The legend of Hans Hagen, a member of the SS, is also dark. He is said to have been in hiding here at the end of the war, and his ghost is still responsible for a number of unexplained disappearances and deaths. To summon him, they say all you have to do is ring the old mine bell…
The whole area is literally riddled with old quarries like Mexico or Small America. It is even interconnected with Great America by a labyrinth of underground tunnels.
The drifts are again inaccessible to the public. Still, thanks to the educational trail “Czech Grand Canyon and Czech Mauthausen,” you can get to know the whole area and its turbulent history. The trail opens up a series of newly accessible views, and the individual information panels are made from the rails on which prisoners’ carts loaded with stones used to run.
By car, you can cover the 15-kilometre route from Restovna to the viewpoint of Great America in less than 20 minutes.
It is a bit more complicated by bus: take line 318 to Řitka, where you change to bus 448 to Dobřichovice. From there, line no. 311 will take you directly to the final stop called Mořina.
It is a bit more complicated by bus: take line 318 to Řitka, where you change to bus 448 to Dobřichovice. From there, line no. 311 will take you directly to the final stop called Mořina.