The Karkonosze National Park protects the highest part of the Sudetes with its highest peak, Śnieżka. It's not for nothing that the mountain bears such a name, as snow is always plentiful in the Giant Mountains. The top of Śnieżka reaches high above the forestless mountain plains known as the summit, covered with vegetation resembling Arctic tundra. Lower down, the slopes of the Karkonosze Mountains drop steeply into rocky cauldrons. Thousands of years ago, these cauldrons were filled with glaciers; today, two of them house charming mountain ponds. The national park reaches down to the foothills floor. The lowest part of it is Mount Chojnik. It is crowned by a medieval castle situated on granite rocks. Such rocks are one of the characteristic elements of the Karkonosze landscape.