Smrk, Mountain summit in Moravian-Silesian Beskids, Czech Republic.
Smrk is a mountain and massif in the Moravian-Silesian Beskids, reaching 1,276 m, the range's second-highest summit after Lysá hora. Its northern slope rises steeply above the Ostravice and Čeladenka river valleys, while the upper parts are largely bare of trees and the summit is covered with secondary mountain pines.
The mountain's forests were felled during the 18th and 19th centuries, when ironworks centred on Frýdlant nad Ostravicí needed firewood, and the original beech and fir stands were replaced by spruce plantations. Those plantations, including non-native varieties, were later damaged by industrial fall-out from the Ostrava region. During the normalization era, memorials to student Jan Palach and singer John Lennon were placed on the ridge, and in 2004 a stone memorial to hockey player and coach Ivan Hlinka was added.
On the ridge near the secondary summit of Malý Smrk stand folk memorials to student Jan Palach and singer John Lennon, created under normalization as a meeting place for Beskydy dissent; a stone monument to hockey player and coach Ivan Hlinka was added in 2004. A memorial plaque marks where Josef Bierský died.
Multiple marked trails lead from Staré Hamry village to the summit through forest. The main route takes around three hours, with clear signage to help you stay on track.
Near the summit stands a frost-weathered rock formation, a mrazový srub, shaped by freeze-thaw action. The massif also holds the Bučací vodopády cascades in the Bučací potok valley at about 800 m; their two main falls drop roughly 10 m together within a system about 40 m high, protected as a reserve since 2004.
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