Among the dead-end villages in the Geresdi Hills

Itinerary

• We set off on the Z mark through the village center, following it to the end of the asphalt road.
• We turn left onto the P mark, which we follow to Zsibrik.
• In Zsibrik, we turn right onto an unmarked street, where at the junction we turn left. We follow the unmarked path leaving the village up to the connection with the S mark.
• We follow the S mark from the Apponyi Lookout to the center of Bátapáti.
• In Bátapáti, we turn right onto the K+ mark, which joins the Southern Transdanubian Blue Trail before the end of the village.
• We head right on the K mark, remaining on it up to the Harsány cross.
• At the Harsány cross, we turn right onto the Z mark, which leads to the edge of Ófalu.
• At the edge of Ófalu (after the Saint Vendel statue), we turn left onto the Kᵯ mark, which leads to the endpoint.

Detailed description of the hike

In the footsteps of the vanished Eszterpuszta

We start from the parking lot in front of the Wachtel pub along Kossuth Street on the Z mark toward the village center, passing the pilgrimage lodging, the community hall, and the German nationality kindergarten near the bus turning circle. We cross the Rák Creek, then turn right onto Petőfi Sándor Street, where, in front of an ornately carved gate, we encounter a life-sized bear statue – also marked as Maci on the map. We continue, with neat family houses to our left and the creek’s green, grassy pitch to our right. At the edge of the lower village, on the eastward road, stands a painted statue of Saint Vendel, whose veneration mainly spread in German-speaking areas. The artwork was donated to the village in 1872 by German settlers Hein Margaréta and Hein Antal. After about 350 meters of walking, we arrive at a small roundabout with a stone cross in the middle. We continue straight; the road splits in two: choosing the left and following the P mark! On the gravel road, we soon reach the ruins of the Eszterpuszta church belonging to Cikó. Here, we can see the tower ruins of a Gothic church built in the 15th century in the former, destroyed settlement of Eszter (Ösztör). (There is no information board.)

The small village of Zsibrik hidden among the hills

We continue walking parallel to the Rák Creek in an acacia, brushy forest in the valley. We reach a spacious clearing dotted with a few trees, where we turn right, cross the Rák Creek, then immediately turn left, continuing northeast on the flatland along the creek’s densely tree and shrub-lined bank. We walk on a sunny, wildflower meadow, resting occasionally in the shade of a solitary crooked-trunk tree. The clearing changes to bushes, and through the leaves, we see the shining water surface of the dammed Rák Creek. Our path leads beside the Zsibrik fishpond, where we can observe birds over the reeds. The P mark leads us to Zsibrik, where we turn right from the marked trail onto Petőfi Street. This small former independent settlement among the hills has belonged since 1959 to Mőcsény, located 2 kilometers away; it has a few permanent residents and a rehabilitation center. Its German inhabitants were expelled or moved away, but a few old, beautiful farmhouse and half-timbered buildings still preserve their memory.

The hills below us

The village street forks in a Y-shape; we take the left branch and follow the unmarked path continuing at the street’s end. Leaving the houses, we enter an acacia forest and climb, stepping over dry branches in a scarcely used gorge, up to a hill, where we join the path with the S mark. From the treeless hillside, we look back over the Rák Creek valley and the fishpond with the Eastern Mecsek range in the background. On a steep dirt road, we climb through the forest to the Apponyi Lookout on the hilltop next to Bátapáti. The approximately 13 m high wooden tower was inaugurated in 2019; from its top, a wonderful panorama opens over the forest-covered, gently "waving" hills, the Zsibrik fishpond, the village, and in the distance, the peak of Zengő. Next to the lookout, a resting and fire pit area has been designed. After a short recharge, following the S mark we descend on a concrete road to Bátapáti. Like the other settlements on our hike, this too is a dead-end village. It belonged to the Apponyi family in the 18th century, and its German residents were expelled after World War II. The village’s name became nationally known due to a storage facility established for small and intermediate activity radioactive waste.

On the Southern Transdanubian Blue Trail to the Harsány cross

In the center, we turn right onto the K+ mark. We pass the renovated Apponyi manor building, then replenish our water bottles at the Immaculate Conception chapel; later there will be no chance to do this again. At the street’s end, we join the Southern Transdanubian Blue Trail K mark and continue the hike by turning right on it. At the junction stands a granite block commemorating Jákobi Lányi András, a Carpathian forester-hunter who died here. We travel a short section on a gravel forestry road, then on a shady loess top path under acacia foliage, climbing a steep 800–900 meter incline. On the wide, sunny hill ridge, we walk for 1 km alongside arable fields, meadows, and a forest strip, then continue through an acacia forest. At a junction, we take the K-marked dirt road, strolling easily among the tall trees of a charming oak forest. The path undulates gently and mostly remains level; clearings occasionally break the forest, and we may encounter startled game. The space opens up, and after passing a flowery meadow, we arrive at the Harsány cross. In the 1930s and 1940s, after a fortunate hunting accident, János Harsányi gave up hunting and erected this cross here in gratitude and to the glory of God. The resting place features a rain shelter, a fire pit, information boards, and a map, so we can rest here in the shade before the final section of our hike.

Ófalu from a bird’s eye view

We only walk 150 meters on the concrete road on the K mark, then turn right onto a dirt road on the Z mark. The dirt road leads through an acacia-shrub secondary forest; at last, the trees thin out and thorny shrubs replace them before we reach the grassy hill ridge. The path is bordered by bushes. We descend on a long, narrow ridge; around us, the landscape unfolds with forested hills and meadows and arable lands spotted. The peacefully stretching houses of Ófalu between the hills, the Rák Creek valley, the Eszterpuszta ruin, and the fishpond further away are visible. We reach the flatland, where the earthen, rocky road from here is paved with concrete. We cross the Rák Creek on a bridge and return to the edge of the village. We pass the Saint Vendel statue, then immediately turn left onto the green, flower-covered meadow pilgrimage path marked Kᵯ that leads along Liszt Ferenc Street to the Ófalu Saint Anthony of Padua parish church. From here it’s only a few minutes walk along Kossuth Street to the Wachtel pub or the bus turning circle.