Among the huts of the Old Bakony

Itinerary

• In Németbánya, we walk eastward along the K◼ trail.
• We leave the village heading east on the K trail.
• Upon reaching the forestry road, we turn right onto the P trail.
• Arriving at a wide meadow, we make a detour to the left on the P● trail to the nearby Tiszta-víz-forrás (Clear Water Spring).
• Later, we turn right from the P trail to the P+ marked hiking path, which we follow to visit Csehbánya.
• From Csehbánya, we continue to follow the P+ signs to the Szénpajta resting place.
• We return to Németbánya on the K marked hiking trail.
• We walk into the village square on the K◼ trail.

Detailed tour description

Germans in the Bakony Forest

Németbánya was founded in the mid-18th century, and German settlers operated a nearby glassworks processing the local forests. Excessive deforestation led to the closure of the plant within a few decades, although until then it produced two hundred thousand products annually. The loess cover spread by ice age winds provided a meager livelihood for the farming population, many of whom left Németbánya during the 20th-century resettlements, resulting in a sparsely built village appearance. The calm associated with isolation blends with the forested surroundings, which is why today we leave a holiday village when starting our tour on the K◼ trail. Here, we can still observe some old, characteristic German houses. The settlers originally built one-door houses without porches, in contrast to the Hungarians whose rooms all opened to the courtyard, which also had small porches in the same direction. The Germans arriving after the expulsion of the Turks gradually "took to" porches, between whose pillars a low wall with few openings stretched—due to its uniqueness, the 1957 hiking guide calls this a "Bakony type" house.

Under the roofs

We cross the village eastward on the K◼ trail. When houses are replaced by forest, a strip of asphalt leads left toward the former Iharkút. The bauxite resource, accumulated in dolomite caves and later protected by overlying layers, not only marks Hungary's most significant dinosaur site but is also the scene of a tragic event. Iharkút village was dismantled in 1980 for mining, and its residents were forcibly resettled. (The bauxite mine ceased operations in 2002.)

We keep an eastward direction on the National Blue Trail marked with K, entering the forest and gently ascending through a sheltered, beautiful beech forest as we follow the side of the Szállás-tető dolomite mass. We cross a road built to accommodate the trucks once pounding here, and we undulate through forests of various ages in good condition. Looking uphill, dry valleys that were deepened earlier dissect the neighboring slope in places.

The Pénz-lik (detour)

Breaking through spider webs, we can make a detour on a scarcely followed path at a rocky point on the transversal path above: mossy, rugged dolomite rocks appear on the dark, semicircular mountain ridge, harboring the Pénz-lik crevice cave near Hajszabarna. This strictly protected complex, about 120 meters long, is a rich bat habitat, with walls often covered in stalactites. In rainy periods, small ponds and puddles shimmer on the floor, probably giving rise to the local name. And of course, we wouldn't be in the Bakony if local folklore didn't speak of the bandit Savanyó Jóska, who once hid in this cave. From this spot, marked with an information board, a steep, slippery path winds down the slope, bypassing rocky outcrops—be cautious as leaf litter may hide small and large stones from sight!

On the site of a narrow-gauge railway

Soon we step onto an asphalt road (the P trail, right) – between ridges on the edge of the Old Bakony, the Szénahordó road, providing passage through structural ditches for centuries, is now a forestry route, and small trains once rattled along its section until the junction. The rails once connected Városlőd with Franciavágás, and the network created in 1957 by connecting old lines exceeded 35 kilometers. In the 1960s, changing transport policies pushed railways to the background in favor of cheaper road transport, leading to the gradual dismantling of Bakony tracks.

Disappearing pine forests

Shortly, at the left branch of a Y-junction, we enter the forest from a clearing and reach the site of a large pine plantation. The cool-loving, high precipitation-demanding pine is not native to the low Bakony regions but was formerly planted to replace harvested forest patches due to its rapid growth. However, climate change negatively affects the stands: longer droughts, scorching heat, and lack of winter snow cover stress the pine trees, which dry out, weaken, and die. To prevent the spread of pests like aphids and others proliferating in the weakened forests, these stands are currently being harvested in many places, partly satisfying commercial goals. In the next kilometers of our route, there are many gaps where native species are already growing in place of felled pine forests.

To the left accompanies the wind beech of the Pápavár hillside, but before truly entering the deciduous forest, the P marked trail turns right at a junction. We pass a fence, behind which a huge logged area opens a small viewpoint allowing us to recognize the radar-identifiable Kőris Hill and the front of Nagy-Som Hill in the background. A sign at the next junction explains the causes of the pine forest decline—on the right remains a patch of wet, fragrant pine forest, where sunlight lies in narrow but sharply shining strips on the needle-carpeted mossy ground.

On Indian land

Our stony path winds roughly flat through dense, often young forest, then reaches a wide meadow. Adult groups following Indian traditions and schoolchildren use this pasture from time to time. To the left, a wide path cuts through the bushes, and the P● mark guides us with a roughly 500-meter detour to a special spring. We cross a long, shady clear-cut area whose air is shaped by the surrounding slopes and the water vapor of the Black Stream—thus, we walk in a cool nook. On the far side, we cross a creek: the name Séd can be found in the Bakony and Balaton Uplands, denoting a fast-flowing creek locally. Shortly, we stand above the Clear Water Spring. We should not expect it to be fenced; according to natural conditions, water gushes from the ground and collects in a sizable spring basin, with a crystal-clear small pond swirling at our feet. We return to the P trail on the same path.

After crossing the creek, we struggle multiple times with muddy fords and shore sections in the alder swamp surrounding the spring, then rise to the left leaving the valley behind. In a mixed forest with pines, at the top of a short climb, a junction offers a choice: we must follow the P+ marks starting right and actively search for them, as their presence is quite sparse and paint has not been refreshed for a long time. The deep forest road gradually turns left, leaving behind the hiking trail, followed by branching, lingering meters. We trample a spacious ridge, then turn left onto a wide logging road. We soon leave this and approach Csehbánya through huge clearings in a denuded, stripped forest section. We cross a wildlife protection fence twice, more precisely its ladders, and finally step over a wide meadow to enter the village border.

Huta Bohamica

Csehbánya emerged only in the 18th century; its first glassworks master brought Czech workers from nearby Városlőd (specifically from what was then Pillér) to the "Huta Bohamica." In the following decades, white and green bottles, glasses, and window panes came out under the craftsmen’s hands. Due to the huge firewood requirement of glass production, the surrounding forests disappeared rapidly, and after nearly 40 years of operation, the glassworks ceased. Most residents then started farming, taking advantage of the good fertility of the loess soil of the hilly area. Of course, after World War II population exchanges, many Czechs moved back home. The village is increasingly popular among tourists due to its secluded location and green surroundings, making it an ideal rest spot.

Return

We cross the center; opposite the church stand World War memorials. The P+ hiking path sets off alongside the beds of small fishing ponds along the slope lined with tiny villages. From the expressively named Ox Meadow, we look back on the mosaic of rooftops—actually, this is where Csehbánya’s beautiful location is most spectacularly revealed. On the forest edge stands the Malasics House, once a shelter for foresters, now serving as a hostel for nature lovers. Beyond a wide ridge, we arrive at an important junction: we meet the bauxite transport road already mentioned, whose predecessor was the former narrow-gauge railway also rattling here. From the spacious clearing equipped with a covered rest area, we start the last section of our hike, led by the K mark of the National Blue Trail. (The name Szénpajta likely recalls the charcoal burning in the vast forests of the region and points to the clearing’s former function. The map also reveals the name "ore holes," referring to bauxite mining in the 18th century here, where the extracted raw material was processed mixed with manganese ore from Úrkút at the iron forge in Kislőd.)

The hiking trail steps onto a path following the creek bank. In muddy conditions or when we prefer comfort, it’s better to walk on the significantly wider and less uneven logging track. Beyond an intersection stands a house—here, with a long, monotonous walk along the shallow valley bottom, we reach the outskirts of Németbánya. On the far side of the elongated, swampy Jäger meadow, Németbánya awaits. We finish our substantial march on the familiar route to the left, guided by the K◼ signs.