They protect a little-inhabited area of the mountain range of the same name, the Šumava or Bohemian Forest.

In 1990, the area was designated as a UNESCO biosphere reserve, and in 1991 it was changed to national park status.

These are not well adapted to the harsh local climate and are therefore susceptible to a range of elements, such as strong winds (e.g. in the 1980s or recently at the beginning of 2007) and bark beetle (Ips typographus).

Numerous large plateaux with raised peat bogs, glacial lakes and remnants of primeval forests (e.g. Boubín) complete a mosaic of habitats which are little disturbed by human settlements as most of the predominantly German-speaking inhabitants were expelled after World War II, and the area became a part of the deserted zone along the Eastern Bloc border.

Originally, a large landscape protected area was declared on 27 December 1963 covering most of the Bohemian Forest.