The volcanic origin of the Großer Finsterberg may be seen clearly from the conical shape of its summit, which tilts markedly towards the west.

Apart from the summit plateau, the mountain is completely covered by a nearly natural cotton and reed grass spruce woodland and in most places there is no shrub layer.

To the northwest, four to five kilometres away, are the two main summits of the range, the Schneekopf (978 m) and the Großer Beerberg (983 m), both of which are higher than the Finsterberg.

Since the middle of the 18th century at the Mordfleck (1.5 kilometres east of the summit) and at the Blauer Stein (1 km away to the northwest), stone coal has been mined.

[3] The original tower gave views of the Kickelhahn, the Ringberg on the Adlersberg near Suhl, the Dolmar near Meiningen and the only two mountains in Thuringia that are higher — the Großer Beerberg (983 m) and the Schneekopf (978 m) — below whose summits the Schmücke may also be seen.