The Jizerské Mountains form the northern part of Bohemia's ring of border mountains. They meet the Lužické (Lusatian) Mountains in the west, and in the east merge with the Krkonoše (Giant Mountains), the highest Czech mountain range. The Czech-Polish border runs through them and they consist of several crests, with hills peaking just over 1,000 metres above sea level. The highest mountain is Smrk (1,124 metres). Once nearly completely wooded, originally with mixed, and later with coniferous woods, they came to resemble a moonscape with the remains of dead trees in the 1970s and 1980s due to emissions from Czech, Polish and East German power plants. Life has slowly been coming back to the Jizerské Mountains since the 1990's and vast majority of the bare areas are being forested again. They link a number of large as well as small towns, which often became notable precisely because of the mountains; Liberec in the west, Jablonec nad Nisou in the central part, and Tanvald, Desná, Kořenov in the east. The Jizerské Mountains always were and still are rich in rain and snowfall; there are few places in the Czech Republic with so much precipitation. Even this, as a matter of paradox, adds to the attractiveness of the area for tourists; unusual peat and lagoon formations are produced in summer, and in winter, which is often six months long, ideal conditions for skiing.
Ještěd
Ještěd, whose peak rises to 1012 m, is crowned by a modern TV tower which has become a dominant feature of the town Liberec. The tower was designed by the architect Karel Hubáček and awarded the prestigious Perret Prize. The building, housing a communications tower and a hotel with a restaurant, was opened on 21. 9. 1973.
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