Vysoký kámen, natural monument in Kámen, Czech Republic

Vysoký kámen is a 300-metre-long ridge of grey-brown quartzite towers rising to 773.8 metres, with the highest tower, Vyhlídková skála, reached by a steel staircase and footbridge. The rock resembles a ruined castle, with deep fissures and a boulder field at its base.

This natural monument received official protection status in 1974, establishing it as a guarded geological site in the Karlovarský kraj region. The designation marked the beginning of formal conservation efforts for this significant landscape feature.

The name Vysoký kámen means "High Stone", and the German name Hoher Stein is still used on the Saxon side of the border. The rock towers carry their own names: Vyhlídková skála (viewpoint rock) at the southern end, Zobák (beak) and Větrná skála (wind rock) at the northern end. A chapel stood near the rocks from 1817; the forest authority rebuilt it in a different form in 2016 and consecrated it in 2017.

The site is accessible via marked hiking paths that lead through the surrounding areas, providing good access for visitors. Parking options are available nearby, making it practical to visit by car.

The block fields below the towers are a textbook example of frost weathering under the periglacial climate of the Pleistocene ice ages; they are partly covered with loam. The rock itself is a metagraywacke called Hoher-Stein quartzite, about 480 million years old, with dark grey colour from hematite and ilmenite.