Though being the most likely much older, the first historical record of the Middle (Vimperk) Golden Path dates back from 1312. Three castles were built for the protection of this Golden Path branch - Vimperk founded in the mid-13th century, Kunžvart and Wolfstein at the German side, in vicinity of which the town of Freyung was later founded. The trade carried out on the Vimperk Path meant competition for Prachatice. In the 16th century the Vimperk trading with salt represented about two fifths of the Prachatice trade. The Vimperk Golden Path was taken advantage of in the construction of the imperial road built upon the Road Patent issued by Maria Theresa in 1756. The route has been in use to the date (with small alterations) as the main connection of Bavaria with Central Bohemia (road No. 1/4).

Route of Vimperk Golden Path

Passau – Strasskirchen – Röhrnbach – Freyung – Strážný – Horní Vltavice – Solná Lhota (Salzweg) – Vimperk

The tourist trail is focused on instructing about the historical route of the Vimperk branch of the Golden Path used for the transport of salt and other commodities to Bohemia. The path started in German Passau and branched off into three main paths: Upper Path, also called Golden Road, leading past Kvilda and Kašperské Hory further to the midland (sometimes also referred to as the Kašperské Hory branch); the middle branch leading past Strážný and Vimperk; and the bottom branch leading past Volary and Prachatice (Prachatice branch).
The 30 km tourist trail connecting Vimperk and Philippsreut includes twelve stations with information panels. A day-long time reserve is needed for coverage of such distance.
The trail may be nevertheless easily divided into several shorter sections - e.g. Vimperk - Korkusova Huť (4 stations – about 8 km), Korkusova Huť – Kubova Huť (2 stations – about 7 km), Kubova Huť – Strážný (4 stations – about 10 km), Strážný – Philippsreut (2 stations – about 5 km) Along the whole trail, the visitors follow yellow-black tourist marks with the silhouette of a pack horses drover and with crossed keys (symbol of Collegiate Chapter of Vyšehrad).

Places of interest on the trail:

Kubohuťský system – one of the best preserved remains of the Golden Path
Žlíbský system – significant remains of the Golden Path
Kunžvart – ruins of the guard castle on the Golden Path