Bedrichov Jizera mountains Jablonec nad Nisou Liberec Jested Castles and chateaux Others
Jizera mountains
The nature of the Jizera Mountains has been fascinating its visitors by its severe northern character and the number of splendid places with extraordinary natural artefacts. Other characteristics of the Jizera Mountains are numerous moors or the areas covered with a beautiful spruce forest. The protected area of the Jizera Mountains has been recognised as one of the oldest in the Czech Republic. The educational footpath in the surrounding of the river Jizerka, going through the national natural reservation the Mooreland Jizerka, demonstrates the geological and botanical exceptionality of the Jizera Mountains. Furthermore, the glory of this district is represented by the system of stony and iron observation towers offering breathtaking views of surrounding countryside.
The tourist map of Jizera Mountains (13MB).
Jizerka
The village in the north-eastern Jizera Mountains, a romantic settlement of herdsmen and timber men already known in the 16th century, has had the reputation of being an important tourist crossing in the recent years. In the middle of 19th century two glassworks were founded there, one of them is still in service. The stony pyramid in the middle of the village’s area commemorates its foundation. Nowadays, most of the houses in the village have been used for recreational purposes. The moor land, not far away from Jizerka, lies at the altitude of 860 metres. The Sapphire stream (Safírový potok), flowing into Jizerka to the lower end of the moor land, was known as the finding place of the gemstones (sapphires, rubies, and others) in the past. This reservation was registered into the net of the most significant European reservation by UNESCO. The river Jizera, which creates the frontier with Poland, flows through the middle of the Big Jizera Meadow. The unique basaltic conic hill Bukovec surpasses the village of Jizerka. The area, with vast mountain beech, mixed and coniferous forests, plentiful wood and meadow flora, is a proclaimed state natural reservation. In addition, 2 branches of the educational footpath go through this reservation.
Right now, you can also view the village Jizerka and the hill Bukovec (1005 metres above the sea level) via on-line camera placed on the cottage Pešákovna (880 metres above the sea level).
The waterfalls on the Black stream
The biggest waterfalls of the Jizera Mountains, the Black stream (Černý potok), whose two streams go through the Hejnice ridge and then rocky gulch, has the declivity of 500 metres after about 3 kilometres on this place. The whole area is a part of the reservation Frýdlant battlement (Frýdlantské cimbuří), which was named after massive rocky formation surpassing the gulch in the ridge of Noon stones (Poledních kamenů).
Josefův Důl
This urban-agricultural village was founded in 1707. The old glasswork from 17th century was replaced by the contemporary one in 1910. Nearby the village there is the largest reservoir of the Jizera Mountains- the Josofodolská dam with an area of 145 hl. This reservoir was built between the years 1976 and 1982 as a drinking water reservoir for Liberec and Jablonec nad Nisou. The reservoir consists of two fill dams at the height of 43 metres and the length of about 720 m. Its depth is about 44 metres. The water is transported to drinking water processing by a 2.5 km long tunnel from the reservoir in the depth of 130 metres below ground into the finishing mill in Bedřichov and then below the ground to Liberec. As storage of drinking water the whole reservoir belongs to the protected area and therefore, bathing is forbidden there. Nevertheless, it is still a popular tourist destination owing to its beautiful surroundings and conditioned access roads as it offers ideal conditions for cycle hiking.