The range is among the westernmost extensions of the Sudetes, which stretch along the border between the historic region of Silesia in the north, and Bohemia and Moravia in the south up to the Moravian Gate in the east, where they join the Carpathian Mountains.

The range is largely made up of sandstone sedimentary rocks leaning on a Precambrian crystalline basement.

During the Tertiary volcanic magma streams broke through the sandstone layer and solidified into basalt and phonolite.

Other notable peaks include the Pěnkavčí vrch (792m), Jedlová (774m), Klíč (760m), Hochwald (750m) and Studenec (736m).

The Czech part of the Lusatian Mountains have been a nature reserve since 1976, covering an area of 264 km2 (102 sq mi).