The mountains were created during the Alpine Orogeny in the Cenozoic. Geologically, they consist mainly of flysch deposits. In the north, they steeply rise nearly 1,000 m (3,300 ft) over a rather flat landscape; in the south, they slowly merge with the Javorníky. In the south-west, they are separated from the Vsetínské vrchy by the Rožnovská Bečva valley; in the north-east, the Jablunkov Pass separates them from the Silesian Beskids.[1]
The highest point is Lysá hora mountain at 1,323 m (4,341 ft), which is one of the rainiest places in the Czech Republic with around 1,500 mm (59 in) of precipitation a year. Many legends are bound to Radhošť Mountain, 1,129 m (3,704 ft), which is one of the most visited places in the mountains together with the nearby Pustevny resort.[2]
Smrk, with a height of 1,276 m (4,186 ft), is the second highest summit of the range. Its northern slope steeply rises from the surrounding lowlands and is separated from the rest of the mountains by the deep Ostravice River (in the east) and Čeladenka (in the west) river valleys; in the south, it merges in the lower Zadní hory (i.e. Rear mountains) area.
The Moravian-Silesian Beskids create the largest part of the Beskydy Landscape Protected Area. The mountains are 80% forested, though mainly by plantations of spruce which were in some parts severely damaged by emissions from the Ostrava industrial region. Originally, the mountains were covered by mixed forest with dominant beech which are preserved in many places. Recently, permanent occurrence of all three large Central European carnivores – lynx, bear and wolf – have been confirmed in the area.[3]
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