Stóg Izerski

On the southern slopes of Stóg, many small streams come together to form the Jizera (Izera), one of the largest rivers in the Czech Republic. The summit (1,105 m) at the western end of the High Ridge of the Jizera Mountains is one of the highest in the range and part of the Crown of Lower Silesian Mountains. A gondola from Świeradów-Zdrój gets you up in about 8 minutes, and 50 m below the top stands a mountain hut from 1924 – the westernmost on the Polish side of the Sudetes.

The name and the history

Strictly speaking, the name Stóg Izerski belongs to the tiny settlement around the hut – briefly called Kwarc after the Second World War – while the peak itself is Stóg (Czech: Stoh, German: Heufuder). The massif is made of gneiss and granite gneiss and is almost entirely covered with spruce forest. Administratively it belongs to the municipality of Mirsk, though Świeradów-Zdrój is the gateway to the summit.

As early as 29 July 1892, the Riesengebirgsverein (Giant Mountains Society) opened a wooden lookout tower here. Destroyed in 1907, it was rebuilt and served for decades more until it was dismantled because of its poor condition; a telecom mast was put up next to it in 2004.

The hut at 1,060 metres

The hut was built on the initiative of the Riesengebirgsverein, the spa doctor Josef Siebelt and the Schaffgotsch family, who provided land and money. The foundation stone was laid on 17 September 1922, and the Heufuderbaude opened on 24 October 1924. The two-storey building in the Silesian-Lusatian style has operated without a break, even during the Second World War; in the 1940s it also housed a border guard post. It lies on the Main Sudeten Trail (the summit itself does not), and its terrace looks out over Świeradów-Zdrój, the Kwisa valley, the Jizera Foothills and the western Karkonosze (Giant Mountains).

By gondola from Świeradów

The Ski & Sun gondola, built with Doppelmayr and opened in 2008, is 2,172 m long and climbs 443 m – from 617 m to 1,060 m above sea level. It runs 71 eight-person cabins, which also take bikes. In winter you ski down from Stóg on a floodlit, snow-covered 2,500 m run; in summer the top is a starting point for hikers and cyclists.

Tripto tip

According to the Ski & Sun website, in October 2026 the gondola runs daily from 9:00 to 16:00; the lower station is at ul. Źródlana 7 in Świeradów-Zdrój, where parking costs PLN 40 a day. Allow 2–3 hours for the ride, a walk and a meal at the hut.

From the summit a trail leads through the former Stóg Izerski–Smrk border crossing to Czech Smrk with its lookout tower, and on to Czerniawa-Zdrój. Other trails run via Suchacz to Hala Izerska and along the Main Sudeten Trail to Hala Szrenicka. In winter the top is snowbound, and weather in the Jizera Mountains changes fast – bring a warm layer even in summer.