U Eremita, Nature reserve in Branov, Czech Republic

U Eremita is a 7.8-hectare nature reserve on the northern wooded slopes of the right bank of the Berounka River, between Roztoky and Branov, about 1 km from Roztoky. It lies at 250–330 m above sea level on boulder slopes of Proterozoic shale and droba overlain by Cambrian andesite, with a tufa deposit at the Pěnovcový stream spring.

The reserve was first declared by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Socialist Republic on 28 March 1984, effective 11 October 1984, and re-declared by the Ministry of the Environment on 11 June 1992, effective 13 August 1992. In the 19th century part of the site was artificially reforested with spruce and pine, but logging and grazing were never intensive because of the steep, inaccessible terrain.

The 1 km educational trail, established in 2000 by the Křivoklátsko PLA Administration, has three stops with information panels and 35 numbered woody species marked in the field. A panel midway explains the pěnovcový (tufa) deposit, and a printed guide is available at information centres.

The educational trail starts from a signpost on the Roztoky u Křivoklátu–Karlova Ves road, which points visitors to the first panel. The roughly 1 km route has three stops with information panels and 35 numbered trees; after the initial climb from the road it runs almost level, though parts lie on exposed ground above the Berounka.

The yew population here shows uninterrupted natural regeneration, a rarity in Czech forests; four protected species grow on the site, among them Aurinia saxatilis and Lunaria rediviva. A moss community on the tufa deposit includes Eucladium verticillatum.