Obora Soutok, Game reserve in Lanžhot, Czech Republic

Obora Soutok is the largest game reserve in the Czech Republic, covering 4,232 hectares north of the Morava and Dyje confluence in the Dyje Triangle. Of this, 3,395 hectares are floodplain forest, 532 hectares meadows and farmland, and 305 hectares water: canals, oxbows and pools.

The Liechtenstein family had the land around the Morava fenced in 1872 to keep the deer they bred there out of neighbouring fields. The Ruský dům hunting lodge was built in 1871 and disappeared at the end of the war in 1945. Before World War II, a line of border watch bunkers was built in and around the reserve.

The area has long served as a hunting ground for the local nobility, and this purpose still shapes how the land is managed and perceived. Visitors can see how forests and meadows are maintained with wildlife in mind.

The northern section is accessible by marked hiking trails, while many other areas remain restricted to protect wildlife and nesting birds. Visitors should stay on designated paths and check conditions before arriving during spring months when access may be limited.

The reserve includes two specially protected zones, Ranšpurk and Cahnov-Soutok, which shelter rare European hornbeam trees that rank among the continent's largest specimens. These ancient trees represent an important botanical legacy rarely found elsewhere in Europe.