Czech Grand Canyon - Big America

Come and get to know the beauty of the Czech Karst Protected Landscape Area. Visit America in Czech Republic.

America is a name for the system of limestone pit quarries in the Bohemian Karst, which are connected by underground drifts. Among the best-known belongs Big America, Small America and Mexico, other larger or smaller quarries are located in the surrounding woods.
America is a paleontological site and the most important wintering grounds for bats in central Bohemia.

You can look at Big America - Czech Grand Canyon, this limestone pit quarry is about 800 m long, 200 m wide and up to 100 meters deep with a lake. The place is popular for film companies. The scenes for a film The Lemonade Joe, The Little Mermaid and The Accumulator were made here. The quarry is situated in close proximity to the road leading from the village Mořina (direction from Karlštejn) to the village Kozolupy (direction Loděnice - Prague).

Small America is a slightly smaller limestone quarry. Also in this quarry is situated deep lake with crystal clean water. Both quarries are linked by underground tunnels, which are inaccessible for the public.

Mexico quarry is 300 m long, 100 m wide, 80 meters deep. At the bottom there are several small lakes.

Many modern legends are concerning the America quarries. Mainly the story about Hagen, a phantasm of underground, who is indicated like a Nazi soldier who hid here after the end of the World War II. He appears in the small moments quite unexpectedly and disappears again, sometimes at night he robs sleeping tramps, he murders them etc. There hangs a gong in one of drifts, he who rings at it three times and call "Hagen - take me", must come back at the same place within a year, otherwise he dies.

Around the year 2000 a hiking trail was marked in the surrounding of quarries. Yellow marked route with a total lenght of 5 kilometers leads from Oak of seven brothers near Karlštejn to an outlook on the western edge of Small America, continues along the south edge of Small America, then walks around the quarries Mořina and Mexico. The trail continues around the Big America to a large parking lot and the road and then to Mořina.