The Owl Mountains cover an area of about and stretch over between the historic
Lower Silesian region and
Kłodzko Land. Apart from the main ridge, the subdivisions of
Garb Dzikowca and
Wzgórza Wyrębińskie can be distinguished. The range is bounded by the valley of the
Bystrzyca river in the northwest, forming a natural border with the adjacent
Wałbrzych Mountains. In the southeast, the border is marked out by
Srebrna Góra pass, separating them from the
Bardzkie Mountains. In the north, the border is on Kotlina Distrabiekenstein and in the south on Obniżenie Noworudzkie and Włodzickie Hills. In the southwest, the broad
Kłodzko Valley stretches to the
Table Mountains (
Góry Stołowe), the
Stone Mountains (
Góry Kamienne), and the border with the
Czech Republic. Seen from the
Silesian Lowlands in the northeast, the Owl Mountains form a comparatively steep edge of the Central Sudetes, though the range is very diversified in terms of height. The highest peaks are
Wielka Sowa ("Great Owl", at in altitude) and
Kalenica () with their
observation towers. Other peaks reach heights from about to metres above sea level. The Precambrian
gneiss rocks of the Owl Mountains constitute the oldest part of the Sudetes and are among the oldest in Europe. Other deposits include
migmatite rocks, to a lesser extent also
amphibolite,
serpentinite,
granulite, and
pegmatite. Except for the summit clearings and the mountain passes, the Owl Mountains represent the spruce-clad type of mountains. There may be also observed a rare natural occurrence of
beeches and
European yew. ==Project Riese==