Locality
The abandoned training ground is located on the northern edge of Hodonín, where it continues to the district of Pánov. The training ground has a triangular form wedged among the forest stands of Hodonínská Doubrava. The local name "Hrubá louka" suggests that it is a remnant of a long-existing and traditionally used forest-free area. The surface of the area is slightly undulating and, with some exceptions, consists of Pleistocene windblown sands. Underlying clays and marls are exposed in only a few depressions. The altitude of the training ground is around 200 m. The climate is very warm and fairly dry, with the average annual temperatures among the highest in the Czech Republic (9.5 °C in Hodonín); on the other hand, the annual rainfall is among the lowest (573 mm). Due to microclimatic conditions, large temperature fluctuations occur in the site and soils are very dry.
The area of the site is 87 ha.
Vegetation cover
The current form of the training ground differs considerably from the time when the army was operating here. Areas with open grasslands cover only a fraction of the original area, moreover a large part of them have been invaded by wood small-reed (Calamagrostis epigejos). A large part of the area is also covered by ever-expanding self-seeding groves of birches, aspens, poplars, pines and, to a large extent, also black locust. Conservation-relevant initial succession stages with low grass cover and occurrence of low, competitively weak plant species are limited to the vicinity of the few remaining paths. The training grounds also included open wetter habitats in the inter-dune depressions, which are now overgrown with ruderalized shrubs and aspen groves.
Military use of the site in the past, current state
The Pánov site was used as a military training ground from the end of the 18th century. In the second half of the 20th century, until its abolition in the early 1990s, the area served for training of driving combat vehicles.
Legal protection
The area is protected as a natural monument and simultaneously it is a part of a large Special Area of Conservation called Hodonínská doubrava.