The low mountain range covers an area of about 20 x 30 km and lies roughly within the triangle formed by the towns of
České Budějovice,
Freistadt and
Gmünd. • The Bohemian part of the range, known locally as the
Novohradské hory, runs from
Nové Hrady () – via
Benešov nad Černou (German:
Beneschau) to
Horní Dvořiště (
Oberhaid) on the Upper Austrian border. • The Austrian part, the
Freiwald, runs from Unterhaid/
Leopoldschlag eastwards and crosses near
Sandl – south of the
tripoints – the border between
Mühlviertel and
Waldviertel districts. There, the
Weinsberg Forest branches off, while the main chain swings north to the Tischstein and
Nebelstein. In all the summit region approximates the shape of an ellipse and forms the northern boundary of the
Granite and Gneiss Highland. Its highest mountain is the
Viehberg near Sandl which reaches 1,112 metres, but another 16 mountains exceed 1,000 metres in height. Of these, 13 lie on Austrian soil and 3 in Bohemia. The area of the mountains on the Czech side of the border is 162 km². Their highest point is the
Kamenec (
Steinberg, ) in the Pohorská foothills and in the municipality of
Pohorská Ves. The Freiwald is a major part of the natural region of the
Freiwald and Weinsberg Forest. The Lower Austrian part of the Freiwald is defined as a rural subregion (
Teilraum) according to the conservation concept of the state. After
die Wende, a
nature park was established called the
Novohradské hory with many natural attractions like the
Terčino údolí,
Žofínský prales (Sophien-Urwald) and
Hojná Voda (Heilbrunn). The region has remained largely unspoilt. As a result of its location on the
Iron Curtain, the German Bohemians were forced out of the area after the
Second World War and it remained inaccessible to tourists. After the border re-opened the trails were waymarked again and tourist infrastructure built. About three quarters of the region is covered in coniferous and deciduous forest. An almost unabating wind builds up in the autumn often into strong gales. In the Gratzen Mountains rise the
Lainsitz,
Malše,
Pohořský potok,
Strobnitz and
Schwarzau rivers. == Mountains over 1,000 m ==