Rising to 409 m above sea level from a sweeping horseshoe bend of the Elbe, Lilienstein is the most iconic mesa in Saxon Switzerland — and the only table mountain on the right bank of the river. It is the official symbol of Saxon Switzerland National Park, and one look at its silhouette tells you exactly why.

The flat-topped summit plateau rewards you with a full 360° panorama that reads like a geography lesson in the best possible way. To the south, Königstein Fortress and the Pfaffenstein rock stand guard, with the ridge of the Eastern Ore Mountains behind them. To the west, on a clear day, you can pick out the skyline of Dresden. The eastern view — across the Elbe valley towards the Schrammstein massif and the Großer Winterberg — is considered the most spectacular, and a lone twisted pine at the plateau's edge has become one of the most photographed spots in the entire region. In autumn the surrounding forest glows amber, and on misty winter mornings the plateau floats above the valley fog like a ship.

• Königstein (cross the Elbe by ferry) or the car park at the western foot of the mountain — South ascent: blue trail, approx. 45–60 min, easy to moderate; stone steps carved into the rock in 1708 for Elector Augustus the Strong.
• Waltersdorf / Prossen — North ascent: blue trail, reopened for tourism in 1900, similar duration and difficulty.

• A mountain inn (Bergwirtschaft) operates seasonally on the summit plateau; supplies are brought up via a goods cableway on the south side, in use since 1893.
• Three long-distance trails cross the summit, all marked blue: Zittau–Wernigerode, Eisenach–Budapest (EB) and the European long-distance path E3.
• Rock climbing is permitted only on three designated summits (Liliensteinnadel, Liliensteinwächter, Heini) and on the West Corner wall — one of only three mass-rock faces open to climbing in the entire Saxon Switzerland climbing area.
• The obelisk on the eastern plateau commemorates Augustus the Strong's ascent in 1708; struck by lightning in 1966, it was replaced by a replica in 2008.

Lilienstein played a key role in conservation history: starting in 1989, 69 young peregrine falcons were released here as part of a reintroduction programme, successfully re-establishing the species across the Elbe Sandstone Mountains.