Southern Börzsöny Views (performance hike)

Anyone who chooses this spring route will not be disappointed, as the nature awakening with green, yellow, purple, and white not only renews the forest tired and monotonous from the grayness of winter but also us, the participants.

The first viewpoint can already be admired from the Calvary Hill above Zebegény. Next to the stations and the chapel, there is the Trianon memorial, which started construction in the 1930s but was never completed according to the original plans. After World War II, unwanted memorials were destroyed in many places. The locals therefore transformed this one into a lookout tower with iron stairs and railings in the 1960s. Fortunately, the Trianon memorial has been renovated and stands on the hilltop in its original function nowadays. To ensure an unobstructed view, a wooden lookout tower was also built about a hundred meters from the memorial in 2014.

We descend into valleys on yellow-marked paths, climb slopes, and wind along ridges, while magnificent views open up to the Danube Bend and the opposite Visegrád mountains, sometimes through the trees, sometimes from a rocky outcrop. On the side of St. Michael’s Hill, the springtime is already golden yellow among bare branches, and the steep slopes are covered with colorful carpets of hollow gentian. Here and there, snowdrops also appear, but only sporadically and mostly in the shadier parts.

Our lookout-filled route is almost crowned at the very beginning with the panorama of Hegyes Peak. From the Julianus Brother Tower standing on the summit, we have a 360-degree view of the landscape, made unique by the Danube winding between steep mountains. The tower owes much of its popularity to this unique view and its impressive, bastion-like shape, and it was chosen as the lookout of the year by Turista Magazin readers in January 2017.

From the tower, we cross the Köves meadow to Kapu Hill and Gubacsi-hálás. Descending from the latter, we can again admire the Visegrád mountains and the Danube embracing the Szentendre Island as it bends. From here, we make a U-turn among the gardens of Kismaros, then climb the Só Hill and take its ridge toward Rózsakunyhó, which was once a refuge for hunters such as Kálmán Kittenberger and István Fekete.

The writer speaks warmly about this forest refuge in his memoirs, which he and his famous lion-hunter friend used when coming for multi-day hunts or simply to get away from city bustle. Since this spot is usually one of the refreshment points on the route, we can also peek into the small hut, which is indeed as cramped as Fekete István described, despite minimal furniture and equipment now.

Before enjoying another viewpoint along the ridges of Gál Hill and Nagy-Morgó, we make a detour on an unmarked path to Nagy-Kelemen Hill, where we also visit the elevated hide built and used by Kálmán Kittenberger. Later, we descend again to Kismaros, then continue along a winding path through the Csömöle Valley. In the valley, after the snow melt, we must cross a gently flowing creek several times, its bed deeply cut by floodwaters. Among the creek's and forest’s debris, we can spot salamanders, which in the still cool spring weather only lazily try to hide from curious eyes.

We exit the valley and head toward Zebegény, with views of the peaks of Magas-Börzsöny. Of course, the destination is still far away. Before that, we pass by Bibervár, of which almost nothing remains today. The steep little hill at the edge of the charming Toronyalja fishing lake hardly had a real fortress; it was more likely only a watchtower, once observing the road, which was only later named a castle.

Continuing through fields, then along the blue-marked path toward Törökmező, which in recent years has developed into a serious entertainment center, bustling on weekends. We stamp here as well, then continue on the green trail. From this point, only five kilometers remain to the finish via the Vizes trench.