Jizerka starts at your door.
Jizerka peat bog
Follow the Tři iseriny nature trail along the Jizerka stream. A short side trail leads to a wooden viewing platform over the bog. Stay on the boardwalk. Allow 1½ to 2 hours there and back.
Bukovec
From Pyramida, follow the Tři iseriny nature trail to the basalt summit (1,005 m). Look for a white marker with a diagonal green stripe. Allow 40 minutes for the climb. The rocks get slippery in the rain.
Confluence of the Jizera and Jizerka
From the hotel door, head downstream to the spot on the Czech-Polish border where two rivers meet — the Jizera and the Jizerka, which gave their names to the whole region and to our settlement. The path leads through a quiet valley of the Jizera Mountains, where water has been drawing the line between two countries for centuries and where you can simply sit down, listen to the murmur of the streams and step out of time for a while.
It's a trip for families and for anyone after a peaceful walk with no great ambitions — no summits to conquer, just easy time by the water and the charm of a borderland corner. And if you feel like continuing: the long-distance Via Czechia Northern Trail runs through this valley on its way over Jizerka to Harrachov, so the quiet confluence can also become the first step of a much longer journey.
Pytlácké kameny (Poachers' Stones)
From the hotel, follow the red-marked trail northwest over Jelení stráň hill. After less than four kilometres and about an hour and a half of walking, the granite massif of Pytlácké kameny — the Poachers' Stones — rises before you at 975 m in the Central Jizera Ridge. Steel steps set directly into the granite lead to the top of the eastern part, so an ordinary hiker can manage the climb. At the top, a circular view opens up: down to the Great Jizera Meadow with its dwarf pines and the remains of the vanished village of Velká Jizera, out to the High Jizera Ridge on the horizon and, turning around, to the Small Jizera Meadow, your home Jizerka and the Vlašský Ridge. The stones are named after the poacher Hennrich, who had a hideout beneath the rocks and was shot nearby in 1813.
A classic summer hike of moderate difficulty — with around 160 metres of climbing and a marked trail, it's a trip for anyone up for a few hours in the terrain. Bring sturdier shoes for the steel steps and take your time at the top. It's best on a clear day, when you can see all the way to the distant ridges. You'll be back in the settlement just in time for the sauna and dinner — with your legs exactly as pleasantly tired as they should be after a proper hike.
The Burst Dam via Souš
From the hotel door, walk past the Souš reservoir to one of the most powerful stories of the Jizera Mountains — the Burst Dam on the Bílá Desná river. A comfortable forest path brings you to the place where, on 18 September 1916, the freshly completed dam broke and a devastating wave swept through the valley. To this day you can see the exposed concrete foundations, the breach in the dam body and the outlines of the flooded valley — a site now protected as a cultural monument, telling its own catastrophe without embellishment.
It's a walk for anyone who enjoys quiet mountain nature combined with a piece of real history — for families, romantics and those who like their trip framed by a story. The path leads through shady forest along the water, so you'll appreciate it on warmer days too. Don't rush: the silence of the place and the weight of what happened here are strongest when you stop at the breach for a while.
Smrk via Pytlácké kameny
A long walk from Jizerka via Pytlácké kameny to Smrk (1,124 m). The distance shown ends at the lookout tower. Allow additional time for the return; this is a hike for fit walkers.
Via Štěpánka Tower to Paseky
The way to Štěpánka takes you from the hotel door to the oldest stone lookout tower of the Jizera Mountains — a stone tower rising above the ridge with views reaching all the way to the peaks of the Giant Mountains. Ridge paths and forest bring you to a viewpoint where, in good visibility, the panorama of two mountain ranges opens at once: the Jizera Mountains at your back and the neighbouring Krkonoše on the horizon. Then you descend to Paseky nad Jizerou, a foothill village scattered across the slopes above the river valley.
A trip for those who love lookout towers and big views and don't mind a longer ridge hike away from the crowds. From Jizerka you walk through nature from the very first step, no driving needed — and if you feel like going further, you can join the long-distance trails that genuinely pass through the Jizerka settlement: the Via Czechia Northern Trail (its Chrastava–Harrachov section runs via Smědava and Jizerka to Harrachov) and the 'royal' stage of Stezka Českem heading across the Jizera Mountains to the ridges of the Giant Mountains. Štěpánka can thus be a relaxed day's destination — or the first milestone of a great journey across the mountains.
Singltrek pod Smrkem
Fancy swapping hiking boots for pedals? From the hotel door it's just a short way to one of the loveliest bike areas in the country — Singltrek pod Smrkem. Hand-built trails wind through the forest below the highest peak of the Czech Jizera Mountains and flow naturally with the terrain, so seasoned bikers and families with kids enjoy them alike. The trail system is graded by difficulty, so everyone finds a loop that matches their strength — from easy forest cruising to faster riding.
Down the Jizera Valley to Harrachov
From the hotel door you step straight onto the long-distance Via Czechia Northern Trail — it runs right through the Jizerka settlement, and its Chrastava–Harrachov section heads via Smědava down the Jizera valley all the way to Harrachov. This is not just a line on a map: you're walking one of the main Czech long-distance routes, a few steps from the reception. The path follows the river through the ridge landscape of the Jizera Mountains and gradually descends towards the Harrachov saddle — varied terrain for those who want to walk off a proper mountain day.
The trip rewards fitter hikers and lovers of long-distance trails who'll appreciate joining a backbone route across the country. Harrachov at the other end is a classic mountain resort with a programme of its own, so you can stretch the day out and return either the same way or by public transport. If the idea of 'walking out of the hotel straight onto a great trail' appeals to you, this is your direction.
Polish Jizera Mountains (Orle and Chatka Górzystów)
From Jizerka, the Polish side of the mountains is just a few steps across the river — and a whole different world opens up. A comfortable loop takes you along the Jizera river to Orle, a former glassmakers' settlement where a cosy mountain hut now stands deep in the woods. From there you continue north to Hala Izerska, a vast upland meadow watched over by the legendary Chatka Górzystów — a cottage with no electricity, famous for its blueberry pancakes and an atmosphere you won't find anywhere else.
The Polish side of the Jizera Mountains moves to a different rhythm: fewer people, more silence, wide open valleys and pancakes worth coming back for. The loop follows easy paths with little climbing, so you can comfortably manage it by bike as well. You set out right from the hotel door and are back in time for afternoon coffee.
From the Jizera Mountains to the Giant Mountains (Jakuszyce and Szrenica)
For seasoned hikers we have a treat: a full-day crossing from the Jizera Mountains to the Giant Mountains. From Jizerka you head via Orle to Jakuszyce — Poland's cross-country skiing mecca, home of the famous Bieg Piastów race every winter and a cyclists' paradise in summer. From there the trail climbs through the forest to Szrenica, a border summit with a stone mountain hut and views that take in both the Giant and the Jizera Mountains.
Szrenica is also the perfect start of a multi-day trek along the main Krkonoše ridge — on the map we have extended the route all the way to Vosecká bouda, a mountain hut you can comfortably reach from Jizerka in a day. Going there and back is too much for one day, though: plan on staying overnight at the hut or descending to Harrachov. The reward is a day in which you cross two mountain ranges at once.
The Frýdlant Region
When you feel like trading ridges and peat bogs for a piece of history, drive down from Jizerka to the foothills beyond Frýdlant. The journey takes you from the embrace of the Jizera Mountains into the open landscape of the Frýdlant region and rewards you with a majestic complex where a medieval castle and an adjoining château belong together — two faces of an aristocratic seat on a rock above the town. For kids it's an adventure of ramparts and towers; for adults, a look into the château interiors and the history that passed through here.
It's an ideal tip for a changeable day, or for a moment when you want a break from hiking and a more comfortable programme for the family. Take it as a full-day trip: the drive there and back leads through picturesque foothills, and the town below the castle invites you for a stroll and a coffee. For families with smaller children and for anyone who needs a rest from mountain kilometres, the Frýdlant region is a welcome change of pace — from the hotel door to the castle gate.
Jizera Ski Trail (Magistrála)
No need to change at the hotel doorstep — clip on your cross-country skis and glide straight into the groomed tracks of the Jizera Ski Trail (the 'magistrála'). Our central section runs from the Smědava junction through the Jizerka settlement to Orle in Poland — roughly ten kilometres. You'll ski past dwarf-pine meadows and across the peat plains of the plateau — silence, snow on the branches of stunted pines and a track winding through open country. In Jizerka you connect to the whole network: Bedřichov, Nová louka, Smědava and across the border to Orle. Ski as far as you dare, and come back for dinner and the sauna.
The trail suits classic and skating alike, and everyone — from recreational skiers to those who want to carve off a piece of the network's one hundred and eighty kilometres. The difficulty is moderate; the plateau involves no great climbs — just be prepared for open space and changeable weather. The season is winter, depending on snow and grooming. The distance is up to you — a short loop around the settlement, or the whole section with Jizerka as your base camp halfway.
Jizerská 50
A legend you can ski right from the hotel doorstep. The Jizerská 50 is a fifty-kilometre loop along the main Jizera Ski Trail — the same tracks that host the famous Worldloppet race. From the Jizerka settlement you join roughly halfway along the course, so there's no driving anywhere: put on your skis, set out from the hotel and head into the wide white silence of the central Jizera Mountains. The groomer maintains both classic and skating tracks regularly, so a firm, well-tuned surface runs beneath you. You'll round the full fifty kilometres of rolling plateau — snow-covered spruces, frozen peat bogs, long steady climbs and the reward of the descents — and the circle finally closes back at the hotel, where the sauna and a warm dinner are waiting.
The route is demanding and belongs to fit cross-country skiers who want the high point of the winter season in one go. If the full fifty isn't for you, the loop offers shorter variants — cut off a few kilometres and return earlier without missing the most beautiful central part of the trail. It's best to set out in the morning frost, when the track is firmest and the day longest, and to pack layers and food for the way. The hotel is the perfect base for this expedition: in the morning you ski straight into the track, in the evening you come back to stretch your legs in the sauna and sit down to dinner. The season is purely winter — everything depends on snow and trail grooming.