Makovský průsmyk (from Velké Karlovice)
Climb · Czechia
Checked
Makovský průsmyk (from Velké Karlovice) is a 11.2 km cycling climb averaging 2.6% (+292 m), rising from 516 m to 806 m in Czechia.
The 801 m border saddle on the Javorníky divide, on what became the area's first asphalt through-road in 1939. A checkpoint of the Vrchařská koruna Valašska, and the summer cyclobus drops riders at the top for the ridge trails.
11.2 km · +292 m · 2.6% avg · ~6.9% max · 516 → 806 m
Stats computed from OpenStreetMap and satellite elevation data — approximate.
Download GPX ↓Navigate to the foot ↗
Gradient by colour: ● <3% ● 3–6% ● 6–9% ● 9%+
Where it bites
Steepest 500 m: 6.9% (km 9.5–9.9).
| km | to | avg |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 523 m | 0.7% |
| 2 | 535 m | 1.2% |
| 3 | 547 m | 1.2% |
| 4 | 561 m | 1.3% |
| 5 | 582 m | 2.1% |
| 6 | 598 m | 1.7% |
| 7 | 612 m | 1.4% |
| 8 | 643 m | 3.3% |
| 9 | 680 m | 3.8% |
| 10 | 749 m | 6.6% |
| 11 | 796 m | 5.1% |
What it’s like to ride
Makovský průsmyk is the border saddle at 801 m where road II/487 leaves Moravia for Slovakia, and at roughly 2.6% over 11 km from Velké Karlovice it rises like the valley road it is rather than a climb that bites: the same tarmac has already come up the Vsetín valley through Halenkov, Nový Hrozenkov and Karolinka, so you are on the through road to the Makov crossing the whole way. The top sits between Dupačka (928 m) and Beskydok (953 m), on the divide between the Javorníky and the Turzovská vrchovina, with a Slovak National Uprising memorial on the Czech side and a motorest just over the line on the Slovak one. A red ridge trail and the Javorníky-Družba educational path cross at the saddle, and the Javorníky ridge views are why the summer cyclobus from Hranice, Valašské Meziříčí and Vsetín drops riders right here. It counts for the Vrchařská koruna Valašska.
History
The road that climbs from Velké Karlovice to the 801 m pass took its modern form from July 1939, when a complete reconstruction of the 40 km main road from Ústí u Vsetína through Leskové to Makov was pushed through under the German occupation: Organisation Todt moved in steam excavators, rollers and lorries, the result was the first asphalt penetration road in the area, and a new customs station went up at the pass below the Beskydy. Today the summit is a checkpoint of the Vrchařská koruna Valašska, a Wallachian climbing challenge run since 2013 in which riders must photograph themselves at each of the twenty listed peaks between April and November.
Worth stopping near the climb
More climbs in Czechia
Common questions
- How long and steep is Makovský průsmyk (from Velké Karlovice)?
- Makovský průsmyk (from Velké Karlovice) is a 11.2 km cycling climb averaging 2.6% (+292 m), rising from 516 m to 806 m in Czechia.
- Where is Makovský průsmyk (from Velké Karlovice) steepest?
- The steepest 500 m averages 6.9%, between km 9.5 and km 9.9 of the climb.