Tankodrom, Nature reserve in Rakovník, Czech Republic

The Tankodrom is a protected nature reserve northwest of Rakovník covering about 31 hectares with gradual elevation changes across the site. The land consists of different habitats including grasslands, wetlands, and ponds that together create a varied landscape.

The area was farmland until the 1950s when the military took control and conducted tank exercises there. Those activities stopped in the 1990s, after which the land was placed under protection.

The name reflects its military past, and visitors can see today how different habitats sit alongside each other and support local life. Walking through, you notice how grasslands, wetlands, and ponds create distinct zones where plants and animals thrive in their own ways.

The reserve lies 1.3 km from Olešná, northwest of Rakovník, between 347 and 388 m above sea level, with the surface sloping southeast. Its southern edge meets farmland in the Rakovnický potok valley; an approximately 80-year-old pine forest borders it to the west and north. The landscape feature U sv. Trojice lies to the east.

The critically endangered tadpole shrimp Triops cancriformis was recorded here in the late 1990s, in the shallow pools left by tank tracks. Its eggs survive drying and hatch when the ruts fill again, so the reserve's mowing and scrub clearing now imitate the old disturbance.