Rókás Circle

Itinerary 

The itinerary contains a description of the sections between the individual checkpoints (starting from the Budakalász Calvary checkpoint), indicating the number and name of each checkpoint.

• I–II Budakalász Calvary–Kopasz Hill

Leave the area of the Budakalász Calvary checkpoint heading southeast, towards Gerinc Street. At the end of the street – following the road – turn right (Városhatár Street), then immediately turn left at the first opportunity to Parlag dűlő. At the end of the street, continue on the path heading left, circling a dirt mound, then after 50 meters turn left onto a trail crossing a small clearing. About 150 meters from here, at a large concrete piece turn right onto a path between bushes, and after a few meters you reach the Kopasz Hill checkpoint.

• II–III Kopasz Hill–Sicambria ruins

Leave the area of the Kopasz Hill checkpoint on the small path leading west, which leads out to Meggy Street. After 100 meters, turn left onto Barackos Street. On this street, turn right onto an unnamed street, after about one kilometer. At the end of the small street turn right, then at the second corner (Kömény Street) turn right. The area might look familiar from an earlier section of the route, but at the end of Kömény Street turn left this time (onto Berdó Street). At the first opportunity turn right onto Meredek Street, then where the street sharply turns right, turn left onto the dirt road leading into the border of Budakalász to Damjanich Street. Here turn right, then at the sign indicating the end of the settlement turn left onto Köves Street. Upon reaching the high-voltage power lines turn left and follow the dirt road, which slowly turns right. After about 500 meters at a junction turn left towards the forested areas. After leaving the pine forest, a road joins from the right, opposite large rock blocks block the road, but you can bypass them through a gate in the fence; then immediately turn left (again bypassing rock blocks). After 130 meters turn right onto a well-trodden path, following which after a left turn you arrive at a junction where you must turn sharply right, then after a few meters again turn right by a container onto a scarcely used path. Heading northeast then east follow the path until you bypass a rocky section on the left and reach the checkpoint opposite a large rock wall and a pit.

• III–IV Sicambria ruins–Ezüst-Kevély

Leave the area of the Sicambria ruins checkpoint heading south on a winding path descending the hill. Crossing the forestry road continue in our current heading, then after 100 meters turn left at the next intersection. Before the barrier turn right, then at the nearby fork turn left. Following the path you reach the P marked hiking trail, which you follow turning right all the way to the Ezüst-Kevély information board.

• IV–V Ezüst-Kevély–Majdán saddle

From the Ezüst-Kevély checkpoint move northwest on the P mark until you reach the P ☐ mark (approx. 700 meters) where you detour right and follow it until it merges back into the P mark. Then turn right and continue on the P mark until the S mark joins from the left; at this intersection is the checkpoint.

• V–VI Majdán saddle–Köves-bérc

Leave the area of the Majdán saddle checkpoint heading southwest along the S mark. Where the mark turns left into the forest, continue straight on the forestry road into which the K mark soon joins from the left. Follow this until the fork near the gravel quarry, where turn left and follow the K cyclist mark. After about 2 kilometers the K mark returns from the left; from here to Köves-bérc follow this: leave the bulldozer road to the right towards Teve Rock, then for a short section the path runs through the forest, later along the edge of Pilisborosjenő continuing to Erdő Street. Here turn right following the sign that leads again into the forest, towards Köves-bérc; you will find the checkpoint where the path makes a sharp direction change.

• VI–VII Köves-bérc–Határkő Street

Leave the area of the Köves-bérc checkpoint following the K mark. After 350 meters K turns sharply right, here turn left onto an unmarked path, then upon reaching the bulldozer road go straight (east), then at the next fork turn right. Soon you will reach Tücsök Street, turn left here and walk on the street between houses and fields, then at the end of the street turn left again (Csoóri Sándor Street). At the end of Csoóri Sándor Street turn right onto Budai Street, then follow it all the way to Ürömi Road, carefully crossing it continue on Boglárka Street until Határkő Street, where the point is located.

• VII–VIII Határkő Street–Róka Hill

From the area of the Határkő Street checkpoint (intersection of Határkő Street and Boglárka Street) start along Határkő Street, then upon reaching the second street turn right (Jutas Street). At the well on Jutas Street turn left, then follow the dirt road to the forest. Next to the quarry, following the path turn right, then at the fork (onto a less travelled path) turn left and keep the eastern direction, following the boundary stones. At a small clearing the red T sign of the Üröm educational trail joins, which after 600 meters turns sharply left onto the path leading into Holló Lane. At the second intersection turn right onto Fülemüle Street, then crossing Rókahegyi Road turn onto the P+ mark. Upon reaching the P▲ mark turn left and climb up to the highest terrace of the quarry where the checkpoint is located.

• VIII–IX Róka Hill–Ezüsthegy

Leave the Róka Hill checkpoint heading northeast following the P▲ mark. When you reach the P mark turn left, then after about one and a half kilometers turn right upon reaching the P+ mark. At the end of the straight section the P+ mark curves right, here turn left and crossing Barackos Street ascend the hill on Meggy Street. The checkpoint is about 400 meters from here close to the geodetic tower near the road.

• IX–I Ezüsthegy–Budakalász Calvary

Leaving the Ezüsthegy checkpoint heading northeast continue on Meggy Street, then at Kömény Street turn left. At the end of the street turn right (Berdó Street), then take a wide path turning left, from here go straight down Kálvária Street until you reach the stairs leading to the calvary. Here turn right; the checkpoint is at the calvary.

The detailed description of the route

In Budakalász, at the site somewhat grandly called Calvary Archaeological Park, next to the three stone crosses the ruins of a church attract attention; from here we start the route with a quick check-in. The foundations of the 12th-century church of the medieval Káloz village can be seen today on the small loess hill, uncovered during an excavation in 2011. Today you get a nice view from the ruins to the huge mass of the Pilis, to Kő-hegy towering over Pomáz, and further to Szentendre. The checkpoint is near the three crosses.

From the calvary the route heads south along Gerinc Street, then turns onto a less frequented dirt road leaving the orderly residential area, later winding on a trail to the next checkpoint, Kopasz Hill. The small hilltop is truly bald, except for a cross. The view is splendid from here as well, from Kevélyek across Hármashatár Hill to the Békásmegyer housing estate and the elegant pylons of the Megyeri Bridge are all clearly visible. After checking in, continue west on the trail, then upon reaching the asphalt road (Meggy Street) head uphill and immediately turn left on the first street (Barackos Street). The road leads along the edge of a closed garden area where inhabited properties mix with seemingly abandoned plots. A short section might be familiar, since you have to descend twice on Kömény Street (later you will pass here again after touching Ezüsthegy). You leave the inhabited area again at the boundary of Budakalász to check in at one of the most exciting terrain points, winding along often barely visible paths to get there.

Checkpoint among the ruins of Ancient Buda?

At the border of Budakalász you reach the „Sicambria ruins” checkpoint. Several intertwining and diverging legends and tales connected Sicambria—associated with fleeing Trojans, Roman legions, Huns, then conquering Hungarians and thus „Ancient Buda”—have to be disentangled to get a clear picture. Due to space constraints, we stick to dry facts here: there never was a settlement called Sicambria (neither here nor elsewhere), so „Ancient Buda” (the predecessor of today’s Óbuda) cannot be identified with Sicambria; Attila the Hun’s city could not have been here either, and therefore it is very likely that Árpád was not buried here. At the same time, one feels a strange sensation among the rocks, which upon close inspection may be walls or the remains of an old quarry.

We leave the mysterious little hill on a path as little trodden as the one on which we arrived, then soon reach the edge of Üröm Sadove district. From here the road steadily rises towards the ridge of Kevélyek, then we join the P mark. The 415-meter peak of Ezüst-Kevély (also a checkpoint) is the easternmost and also lowest member of the Kevélyek mountain range. Besides limestone and dolomite rocks, here linden hill sandstone appears on the surface, which was also mined in the area, as evidenced by several abandoned quarries.

We leave the peak continuing on the P mark, then after a few hundred meters turn right onto the P◼ mark, which skirts the Nagy-Kevély peak from the north along the hillside. Apart from the markings, little reminds that there once stood a tourist house in Kevély Saddle. Before reaching the mentioned saddle, the P◼ mark first merges into the Z, then the P mark – upon reaching the latter, you must turn right and follow it until you reach the S mark. Don’t forget to check in at the checkpoint in Majdán Saddle before turning left onto the S mark!

Camel next to Eger castle

Following the forestry road and then the joining K mark the route passes a former gravel quarry. Indeed, it is a dolomite quarry where stones suitable for graveling or surfacing the roads and parks of Csobánka and surroundings were mined, and in addition, the gravel was used in the Middle Ages for plastering houses. You can learn more about this by reading the information board at the nearby intersection before turning left onto the forestry road marked with K cyclist. At the intersection stands an old linden tree which, together with a nearby acacia, indicates that the area was once a honey meadow.

The K cyclist mark runs along the southern slopes of Kevélyek, on one section it also follows the Maria Road, elsewhere the Z mark joins in, but you don't need to deviate from it until the K mark turns right towards Teve Rock. Its strikingly protruding, double branched dolomite rock blocks were previously shaped by thermal waters flowing through, which cemented the rock with calcite making it especially resistant, thus the oddly shaped rock rose above the faster eroding surroundings over time. Not far from here is the "Eger castle", which is about as much an Eger castle as Sicambria was Attila the Hun’s main city. However, there is some parallel since the set was made for filming the movie "Eger stars", which has defied time ever since – if you have enough time, you can make a short detour here.

Those in a hurry should continue following the K mark, which winds at the border of Pilisborosjenő – first touching a Calvary, then leading along a road at the edge of the outermost houses and a meadow, later crossing Erdő Street towards Köves-bérc. The 283-meter elevation is one of the southernmost peaks of Pilis; at its southern foot operated a large clay quarry of Pilisborosjenő brick factory. The K mark leads all over the ridge, then sharply turns right and descends the hill – look here for the penultimate checkpoint.

Descending on the K mark, then following an unmarked path and a wide road crossing the meadow, we reach Budai Road, linking Üröm and Pilisborosjenő. The last checkpoint on the asphalt strip crossing the Church Grounds is located near a radio tower; from here a nearly straight (but busy) road leads to the finish, at the Határkő Street checkpoint. Crossing Ürömi Road at the Pilisborosjenő junction bus stop, there are only a few hundred meters left to go on Boglárka Street.

In Üröm, we continue the route in a genuine suburban environment: smaller and larger houses alternate on both sides of the road, surrounded by neat and less neat gardens. Határkő Street is not named arbitrarily: it really forms the border between Üröm and Budapest, and we will indeed find several old boundary stones here. The massive rock blocks can be recognized from afar: one side reads Budapest, the other Üröm, as well as the year of placement and the number of the boundary stone. (The route leads along the town border from stone 124 to stone 113.) These are real local historical curiosities both on the Buda and Pest sides. We leave the built-up area behind a quarry, then continue along a path following the town border – here the border can still be recognized on the right side of the path. At a small clearing, the red T mark of the Üröm educational trail joins from the left, which after leaving Péter Hill suddenly turns left into the Péterhegyi residential area. After a few hundred meters we reach the entrance of the Róka Hill quarry – the recommended route follows the P+ and then P▲ marks to the highest terrace of the quarry, but if you have good timing you can even enter the quarry.

What does the fox say?

The Róka Hill quarry was the largest stone quarry in Budapest, where extraction began at the end of the 19th century. In 1897, a stone transport railway was established to make it easier to transport the Dachstein limestone extracted from one of the three mining yards to the Danube. The narrow-gauge railway likely fell into disuse during World War II, and the quarry was permanently closed in the 1950s. The quarry and its surroundings have been a nature reserve since 1977, as one of the capital’s most valuable habitats: the 9-hectare protected area is home to numerous plant and animal species. Informational boards in the quarry provide details about the rich wildlife: there are butterflies (peacock, swordtail, and swallowtail), eastern sphinx moth, raven, goshawk, and buzzard among others. If you are hiking in the right season and look at your feet, you may find crimson tormentil, white bird’s nest, or even woolly foxglove here. Looking upwards towards the rock walls, you can observe various karst formations, primarily in a rock tower near the center of the quarry showing holes, cracks, and dome-shaped forms indicating how thermal water shaped the rock. From the highest terrace of the quarry there is a great view toward Óbuda, Újpest, and Csillaghegy – but don’t forget to check in at the checkpoint!

Leave Róka Hill following the P▲ mark, on a winding forest path joining the P mark, where turn left. Following the P mark we wind through the back yards of Budapest’s outermost houses, then past fenced pastures with horses, while in the distance the silhouette of Kevélyek appears, which will later play an important role in the route. We leave the P mark onto Békahát Street by turning right, follow the P+ mark for a short section and then depart from it, soon reaching the next checkpoint named Ezüsthegy.

Calvary among closed gardens

From here to the Budakalász Calvary, our road basically leads through a closed garden area offering an interesting sociological cross-section: there are gardens with only a small tool shed, some with a small summer house built by the owner, and many properties apparently inhabited permanently on the small streets we walk. According to the Rókás kör website, this is the part where dogs may appear (usually not strays but pets freely roaming, „walked” animals), so it is advisable to be careful. (During the route a seemingly stray but gentle dog, a few cats, and two rabbits appeared, but I previously met a wild boar on Békahát Street.) Approaching the calvary the dirt road switches to asphalt, and smaller houses give way to larger, new buildings – we reach the inner area of Budakalász, then only a few hundred steps to the start-finish and the last check-in.