Around Bükkösd

Itinerary

• From the Bükkösd railway station, we follow the S trail for two hundred meters to Petőfi Street.
• In Petőfi Street, we turn right onto the P trail, which leads us through the Kecske-hát forest to a fork.
• Turning right, following the S◼ trail, we cross the Filkóc meadow and reach the main street of Bükkösd along a loess path.
• Before the railway tracks, we turn left and arrive back at Bükkösd railway station on the S trail.

Detailed description of the route

Starting from the railway station of the settlement located near the Mecsek, on the border of Zselic, we begin our circular route on the S trail. After 200 meters, we reach Petőfi Street, where at the crossing gate we turn right onto the P trail. Upon reaching the main street – Kossuth Lajos Street – we turn left and after walking 500 meters arrive at the Petrovszky Castle and the Catholic church, situated near the main square. Oral tradition preserves an interesting piece of the history of this baroque castle building: allegedly its lord, Ferenc Jeszenszky, loved playing cards excessively and once, running out of funds, bet the bricking up of several windows. The story is somewhat based in reality, as bricked up window spaces can be seen on the main entrance facade.

At the church, our path leads right, then after following the signs, left, bypassing a crossing gate as we leave the beautifully situated village behind. We climb steep loess cliffs until from the edge of a field it becomes visible and guides us the distant water tower – the Nádasy estate. Loess is a sand-like, fine-grained rock primarily deposited into the Carpathian Basin by winds blowing from the north during the ice age. (Its origin is linked to the polishing work of the ice cover; the slowly moving, hard ice mass crushed the rock beneath into fine pieces.) The rocky cart road bends left soon; we pass a wayside cross, then before reaching the vineyards, the trail leads us left onto a dirt road. We leave an old press house behind, then on the dirt road leading right, we walk past our previous landmark, the water tower. Soon we change direction again and going left on a rocky road, we reach the Nádasy estate.

The castle and arboretum built in the 19th century by the Nádasy family now operate as a social home. The park’s centuries-old trees, the castle, and the ornamental garden offer a special experience for everyone.

Continuing, we watch the trail carefully as after the high-voltage cable it leaves the main road to the right and leads us through a shrub-covered meadow under the power lines into the forest. On the narrow, winding path between trees, the frequently painted signs are well visible and lead us down into the valley. Here on the cart road we turn left, and soon we tread the main street of Dinnyeberki in our hiking boots. After the church and the mayor’s office, we leave the settlement behind on a steep rocky road, then we also leave the cart road leading to Gyűrűfű—turning right, northwards. Leaving the forest strip, first vineyards, then meadows and fields' edges, we can enjoy the beauty of Zselic’s hills. A broad hilly area is visible with gentle slopes and countless wide ridges. Turning onto a dirt road, we see our sign on a high stand.

At the crossroads, we continue straight across a meadow; there is no sign here as the dirt road leads us to the forest strip opposite, where we find the P trail again. We walk in the Kecske-hát forest, where for almost two kilometers we can enjoy the magic of the atmospheric forest. Emerging from the trees, we meet the S◼ sign, where we have to turn right.

After a few steps, we find ourselves at the edge of a huge meadow. Here the trail is on the opposite side of a long fence to the left—once the hiking trail ran there, now the Bükkösd Ecopark is located within the fenced area. (In the ecopark, the local fauna is presented through live animals, and accommodation as well as a periodically open buffet can be found.) We head left along the Szedres road by the shrubbery! The steep, water-eroded dirt road leads us through a forest strip to the large Filkóc meadow.

In the next kilometers, we can enjoy the view of the elongated pasture, the surrounding forests, and the distant panoramic view of the Mecsek. In the far distance, the Jakab Hill and Misina ridges are visible. Where the meadow narrows, the S◼ appears again, and we start descending through the nearly one-kilometer-long loess path gorge, which opens out by the Petrovszky Castle onto the main street of Bükkösd.

Here, all we have to do is follow the already known P and then S trails to stroll back to the Bükkösd railway station.