At the border of three counties

Itinerary

• We start our route from Baranyajenő on the P▲ trail leading to the lookout tower standing at the Triple Border.
• From the Triple Border, we continue on the P trail joining us on the ridge.
• From the Triple Border, following the P trail through Jágónak and the Nyerges Forest, we arrive in Dombóvár.

Detailed description of the route

We get off the long-distance bus in Baranyajenő and start our hike following the P▲ trail. After a hundred meters, we turn left northwards leaving the main street of the village and continue passing by the Catholic church. In the area of the village, there once stood a monastery for nuns from the era of today's Margaret Island, and later the Pauline monks also established themselves here. On the gently ascending asphalt road, we leave the village houses behind us. We reach the ridge on a wide cart road, where at a hunting platform we can enjoy a view rich in slopes, then we continue into a beautiful forest. After two kilometers, we turn right onto a narrower cart road, where in this charming area wild garlic blooms massively in spring.

Stepping out from the cover of the forest onto the ridge-running cart road, we meet the P trail coming from Mosdós, with which we turn right and continue. After a few hundred meters, we reach the Triple Border: next to the memorial pole erected at the border of Baranya, Somogy, and Tolna counties, there are benches and a fireplace where we can take a longer rest. Climbing the lookout tower a few meters away, we can admire the landscape up to the distant Mecsek mountain range.

From now on, only the P trail will guide us, leading along a wide dirt road among arable fields. First, we pass by the Pintér Cross, then after nearly four kilometers of walking, we reach the village of Jágónak. Here, we can recharge on the terrace of the local pub to take on the next kilometers. It is worth checking out the small park opposite the church, which is a fresh splash of color in the village.

We continue on the country road, passing by a farmstead and a wayside cross, then shortly turn left off the main road and cross a field to continue in the atmospheric Nyerges Forest. Here, we encounter the marking of the popular Nordic Walking trail of the people of Dombóvár. The spring forest floor of Nyerges Forest is carpeted with hollow-flowered cyclamens. We descend into the valley, pass by a built, unnamed spring, and thus reach the picturesque valley at Nyerges Lake, where at the shelter on the far side we can take a longer rest.

Leaving the lakes behind, we continue on a paved road. After a few hundred meters, the Saint Anna Chapel and the spring flowing beside it welcome us, where it is worth spending more time. Leaving Dombóvár-Szőlőhegy behind, we walk nearly two kilometers on asphalt when at the junction with Road 61, the ruins of Gólyavár beckon us.

Gólyavár – the castle of Dombó. On a small hill rising from the floodplain, the Dombó family built a castle in 1520. After the extinction of the family’s male line, it was owned by István Werbőczi and then Bálint Török. The famous chronicler of the era, Sebestyén Tinódi Lantos, lived and worked within the castle walls. It was held by the Turks from 1543 to 1686. A writing from 1692 describes the castle as having a regular rectangular layout, with a large residential tower on the western side, and cellared, multi-storey residential buildings on the northern and southern sides. The castle was surrounded by a moat, crossed by an arched wooden bridge leading to the main gate. Today, the northern outer wall and the northeastern corner are visible at about one storey height.

Continuing from the ruins, together with the P◼ trail we reach Dombóvár, where we cross the railway and, turning right, shortly find ourselves in the locally protected Szigeterdő park. Do not rush through the park! Walk around, rest in the shade of century-old plane trees, oaks, and ashes! If it is open, take a look at the medieval residential tower uncovered in 1996, which today functions as a museum. Bowing before the statue group of members of the first independent Hungarian government of 1848, we leave the park and following the two signs, after a kilometer we arrive at the railway station, where we can board a train or bus.