Amphitheater at the moonlight – hike into a legendary gorge

Itinerary

• After a few steps, follow the P+ marking up to the beginning of Holdvilág-árkok.
• When the marking leaves the gorge, stay on the unmarked path that follows the ditch. (You can avoid the risky parts, the ladder, by staying on the P+ marking.)
• Walking through the gorge, we return to the P+ marking, which we follow for a long stretch on the side of Lom-hegy until it joins the P marking.
• Turn left on the P marking.
• When near our starting point the path again crosses the P+ marking, turn right on it and return to the bus stop.

Detailed description of the route

Dry slopes with deep ditches

At Kiskovácsipuszta, between the hospital and an industrial facility, there is nothing to indicate the wild natural phenomenon hidden in the otherwise modest-looking landscape: low hills and gentle slopes ripple on the side of the valley. In the background, the white limestone cliffs of Oszoly tower, indicating that we are at the boundary of mountain ranges, as the Kovácsi Stream valley is the border between Pilis and Visegrád Hills. The P+ marked hiking path leads on the volcanic side of this divide, along fences into the forest, and soon joins the stream – with fallen trunks and boulders in the bed already heralding the untamed rocky world further ahead.

It is not long before the ditch walls rise sharply, and the hiking trail crosses the stream several times, which mostly trickles barely: nowadays, the valley is nearly dry for most of the year. Its upper branches drain the waters of Lom-hegy, Bölcső-hegy, and Nagy-Csikóvár “five-hundred-meter peaks,” but this area is not large enough to provide sufficient replenishment to the springs throughout the year; moreover, the predominantly west-facing air currents are partially dried by the northwestern and central parts of the mountain range before reaching here. Thus, water enters Holdvilág-árkok mostly after snowmelt and significant precipitation. But since the southern edge of the mountain is covered with an extensive patch of dacite tuff, even relatively short, low-yield streams have carved deep ditches into the soft material (such as the nearby Salabasina, where a trail was once opened).

In the amphitheater of an extinct volcano

Further ahead, the valley floor narrows down to the extreme, leaving space only for the stream, while the path crosses the watercourse sometimes with fords and bridges. Fallen trees also impede progress (though the forestry does its best to remove obstacles from the trail), and stairs are placed here and there to hold the muddy, easily washed-away clay soil on the path. Most of the scattered stones were deposited by flood waves, but the largest blocks rolled down from the side walls. After a wooden bridge, the ditch widens, then narrows again and is darkened by the canopy of tall beeches closing in. We descend to the stony, debris-covered bed, and mossy rocks appear increasingly on both sides. We stand before a junction: the hiking trail offers an exit on the left via wooden stairs – this avoids the ladder standing in the gorge for those wary of it. But before choosing the easier route, it is definitely worth walking further along the ditch floor to at least see the enclosure formed by towering walls, which is basically a picture-book of the mountain’s history, a large amphitheater of diverse volcanism in space and time. While at the beginning of the gorge there appear submarine sedimentary layers pierced by magma of the nascent volcano, here the main theme is the terrain forged in fire and its erosion. The finely curved rock rim is segmented by horizontal lines marking the boundaries of layers deposited during successive eruptions. Most striking are the light-colored, soft tuff bands made of volcanic dust, ash, and debris that fell after various explosions. On them lie denser, darker strata. This lumpy band containing lava rock was formed by a ruthless phenomenon: on the slopes of the volcano, hot gas clouds and solid debris swept through, solidifying into hard (breccia) rock below. (Roughly the same happened when the volcanic structure collapsed.)

Of course, the stratigraphic relations of Holdvilág-árkok are much more complex than this sketch, but the alternation of layers differing in hardness fundamentally determines the gorge’s characteristics: just before us is a basin with an intermittent waterfall over 10 meters high, where the stream has cut through the massive cap and later carved through thinner, softer tuff like a knife. This explains why climbing the dizzying ladder dramatically changes the gorge’s appearance, as hard, denser rock stubbornly resists water here.

Iron chimney into the gorge

The challenging yet helpful Meteor Ladder was erected in 1965 (as indicated by a moss-covered carved inscription), but the basin also holds other human traces. The yawning cavity at the foot of the cliff, the so-called Y-cave, is likely of artificial origin, though it is unclear what raw material mining was hoped for.

Climbing the ladder, we can peek into the rock niche under the waterfall, blocked by a wedged rock block – which will surely partially or fully fall out someday. A wooden bridge lies at the bottom of the ditch (crossing it we can visit the Nagy-szikla or bypass it on the P+ marking), revealing a completely new face: from here, a narrow canyon winds between dark walls. The narrow trough’s bends have smooth curves, its steps adorned with beautifully arched stone slides balancing the harsh, rough rock surface. Despite its gloom, the volcanic gorge enchants; after a few wild bends, it again wedges into a light, soft layer, which the stream easily splits in two, while below it hits the hard breccia layer. Hence, we again crawl forward squeezed between high walls, but not for long: the gorge soon becomes shallower, gradually tames, and turns into a rocky bed washout. Here we can return to the P+ marking joining from the left, which leads to a ramshackle resting place on a broader terrace.

From Anonymus to air defense missiles

Those interested in cult sites woven around Holdvilág-árkok legends, or who want to return to the starting point, are advised to turn around on the marking. Not far away is the flat-carved tuff wall of Nagy-szikla, which with its archaeological finds, rock niches, and an artificial cave named after the traditional outlaw Weisslich, serves as a cradle for theories and mysticism surrounding the area. In brief, these form the basis of the supposed location of “Ősbuda,” and the description by Anonymus that Árpád, the leader, is buried above a spring flowing in a stone bed. A pagan sacrificial site and the prince’s grave were also thought to have been discovered here. Although various finds were made, the high-profile, sensational theses have not been confirmed.

Our hike continues from the resting place closing the Holdvilág-árkok along the Karolina-ditch (which is carved into the side of Pörgelőci-hegy). The P+ marking offers no more wild romanticism here; stones disappear along with water erosion, and we climb a wide bulldozed road through a sunny oak forest (from the edge of a clearing, you can look toward Kevélyek). At Nagy-Csikóvár saddle, the marking turns left, and we accompany a broad transport road along a middle-aged oak forest path. We cross the feeding area of the gorge stream, and the slight elevations and barren slopes hint nothing of the irresistible force that shaped the environment 1 kilometer from here. Briefly, we step onto the noticeably wide cart road, which then disappears toward the Lom-hegy summit. On the flat top of the dominant height, one of the air defense complexes built around the capital operated between 1981 and 1996. Soldiers (and their supplies) were transported to the “Vésnök” missile base from the Szentendre (Izbég) barracks, and it was naturally a closed area, avoided by hiking trails (indeed, the ill-fated lookout of Bölcső-hegy, almost at the same altitude, had to be demolished to keep the military facility hidden from prying eyes). The crumbling concrete buildings are slowly swallowed by vegetation; nevertheless (or because of this) they offer an interesting, post-apocalyptic sight, a peculiar imprint of the era. Entry to the area is forbidden as the buildings are in dangerous condition.

In the sunlight into the Holdvilág gate

We traverse increasingly beautiful oak forests on the mountainside, as the forest hiding the base has not been disturbed for a long time. We soon start descending, turning left at a junction onto the P marking. A well-used, compacted forest road visibly leads down from the mountain. We bypass the former Teleki watchhouse (according to older sources, Lom-hegy hunting lodge) and the Salabasina spring. Its oddly sounding name actually contains two parts of different origins: 'sala' refers to szalajka, i.e., the remains of potash production, while 'bas' means head in Old Turkish. Thus, potash production serving glassworks could have taken place near the valley head in the early 19th century (according to Géza Szádeczky-Kardoss).

Now mostly oak forests bathing in sunlight cover the slope we walk down, along with some clear-cut patches offering at least panoramic views. Opposite, the forested back of Pilisi Hosszú-hegy, the two characteristic peaks of Kevélyek, and far behind the Buda Hills appear (with János-hegy easily identifiable). The open areas give way to denser windbreak forest, then on a short section on the side of Száraz-Klanác surprisingly natural copses appear, where we wade through numerous fallen trunks and a smaller scattered rock torrent. Approaching the hillside, we descend in grassy oak forest, sometimes on the forest road, sometimes on a path closely following it. From here, the momentum basically carries us forward, as the remaining few large bends mainly only avoid the Pankostető resort. We soon reach the marking coming from Holdvilág-árkok again, descending on which we arrive back at Kiskovácsipuszta.