Bořeň

A 539 m phonolite monolith above Bílina — the largest rock of its kind in central Europe, a national nature reserve whose silhouette from the north-west is a lying lion.

Bořeň is the western outpost of the range and one of its most startling sights: a bare phonolite dome pushed up some 33–35 million years ago, rising 340 m straight from the Bílina valley — reputedly the largest phonolite rock massif in central Europe, and often compared to Devils Tower in Wyoming. Seen from the north-west its silhouette is a lying lion. The whole hill has been a national nature reserve since 1977, protecting rock steppe, eagle owls and a long list of plants that like hot bare stone.

The marked trail from Bílina climbs to the summit through the reserve; the upper section works through rock terrain where hands come off the trekking poles, and the top gives a full circle — the Krušné hory wall to the north, the cones of the Středohoří east, the open mining country west. The walls themselves are a traditional climbing ground with dozens of named towers and pillars.