At the meeting point of two worlds in the refuge of Somogy

Itinerary:

• We follow the ZL marker to Fehérkő Castle and along the ridge leading further.
• We follow the Z marker on the open ridge, bypassing the valley head in a large arc from east to west.
• From the mountain ridge starting point of the P marker to the Balatonföldvár end point, we follow the P marker the entire way along the undulating descending ridge - only under the Kőröshegy valley bridge do we join the Z+ marker for one kilometer to pass underneath, after which we return to the P marker on an unmarked path.

Route description:

At the border of Kereki

We start from the southern end of Kereki on the road leading to Amália-puszta, belonging to the settlement, following the ZL marker. We cross the weak flow of the just forming Kőröshegyi-Séd between the two parts of the settlement, surrounded by atmospheric willow alleys and valley-floor meadows. We soon leave behind a few houses of Amáliapuszta and at the playground built on the edge of the village, we turn left between the groves toward the wooded hillside. Although Kereki Castle towers directly above us, the extremely steep drop is bypassed from the left by the path, which climbs to the ridge on the gentler eastern side through hornbeam-oak woodland. The route is still very steep in one section, but there are wooden handrails serving as grips, and several gentler paths also lead toward the ridge through the forest.

On the ridge, a resting place welcomes us with an information board telling the story of Somogy castles, as to our right the steep ruins of the Fehérkő Castle tower above us over a ring-shaped moat. The walls are built of a mixture of brick and sandstone; they have clearly been reinforced and patched several times. Their remains were saved at the last minute in the early 1960s. By that time, most of the stone had already been taken away by the villagers, including for the newly built church in Kereki, and also a local hunting lodge benefited from the castle’s ruin; according to the uncovered decorated chimney tiles, the fortress once stood here, ornately decorated by craftsmen. It is mentioned already in the 14th century - after many adventurous years, it was lost due to the Turkish threat. During the Ottoman invasion, the Hungarian armies blew it up in 1544 so that the pagans could not settle among the walls.

We continue our route along the ridge southward, which runs for a narrow kilometer still through mixed oak forest to reach the open area on the southern side with meadows and arable fields at the hilltop. From here, the path runs on the border of scrubby oak forest and bare hilltop, going in a large arc around the valley basin. To the south, the view is uninterrupted, with the gently undulating hills of Outer Somogy stretching out in a row. The monotony of the route is only broken by a few hunting towers that watch over the game herd, which regularly comes out from the scrubby forest onto the pastures. If we're lucky, we can easily spot herds of deer, wild boars, or roe deer in the open area here.

On the peaks of "Somogyország"

The undulating road among the hills slowly turns from southwest to northwest, then on one ridge opposite a geodetic tower appears. This is the Kötse tower on Csillagó Hill, the southern extension of the county's highest hill. The extensive, flat top reaches an altitude of 316 meters. The tourist route also passes over this hilltop, as it turns from the edge of the meadow into the oak forest. A resting place awaits in the shade of old Turkish oaks, providing a good opportunity for a short break after the 3-kilometer monotonous section. From here we turn south along the P marker, crossing Almán Hill, the county's highest point.

On the far side of the hill, the oak forest repeatedly opens up toward the west, but from here on the edge of the hills, the Hungarian Sea, Lake Balaton, merges into its misty water surface. The peaks of the Balaton Uplands appear, and on good days the trunks of the landmark hills are also visible on the western horizon. From here the path gently descends toward Lake Balaton. We soon arrive next to a small tower supported by a bench, table, and shelter called Szólád Lookout. The name is more symbolic as we are only a few meters above the otherwise open terrain. A few hundred meters further on, we reach an even more spectacular hilltop, where from Nezde in the valley the P▲ marker also climbs up through the Nezde sculpture park. Instead of a fenced park, here on the western hillside are rows of carved statues of ancient Hungarian religious origin placed one above the other, ending at the top in a bell tower and covered shelter that have seen better days. The panorama is captivating since, from here on good days, a significant part of the western basin of Lake Balaton can be seen, surrounded by the Balaton Uplands and Bakony Hills. On good days, the double tower and shield-shaped peak of Kab Hill can also be seen.

The monotony characterizes the route again on the way forward. For kilometers, we walk past a fenced pigpen, whose well-preserved oak tree casts shade on the path in the morning hours. Most of the western side meadows have already been reclaimed by dense shrubbery of wild rose and blackthorn, which visibly attracts the piglets of the oak forest. Several places have clearings broken through the thick wild game fence, with dense game trails marking their migration route.

Attracted by the Kőröshegy valley bridge - descending to Lake Balaton

At the northwestern corner of the pigpen, we leave the oak forest and cut through a symbolic meadow crossed by a high-voltage line. From here we first see the viaduct of the M7 motorway, the defining structure of the area, both visually and sonically. Although the path leads into the forest patch of the opposite hilltop, it soon passes next to a clearing on the far side of the hill beyond a shelter, which is worth looking out over. From here we have the most perfect view of the Kőröshegy valley bridge and the arm of Lake Balaton as it encircles the Tihany Peninsula opposite, with the Balaton disappearing in the direction of Bakony. It is worth taking a short break here and considering the next steps. There is an option to shorten the route descending between the pillars of the Kőröshegy valley bridge on the Z+ marker to the village nestled under the viaduct.

The P marker continues the shortest descent towards Balatonföldvár, but we, with a compromise and a slight extension, descend under the valley bridge on the Z+ marker soon branching off to the right. The dramatic dimensions can be felt best from under the pillars, where the bridge structure, appearing slender from afar, almost presses down on us. Viewed from the valley floor, the structure is conspicuously oversized, as if directing traffic from one hilltop to another. According to the official version, it was intended to protect the population and natural values from the 1.8-kilometer-long monstrosity spanning high above the valley, which became gigantic both in size and costs. Furthermore, the construction was an extraordinary professional challenge. The 80-meter-high pillars were erected using sliding formwork, and the road deck was assembled from precast elements on both sides. Thus, the largest bridge in Hungary was built as a jewel of one of our most gentle counties.

We pass under the gigantic gate-like pillars guarding the valley, then on an unmarked cart road on the far side, we turn left, climbing back up on the meadows’ wide hillside. We soon reach the P marker, which hides further up in the forest beneath the road surface, sacrificing the view for efficiency. However, except for a few sections, from here on we will walk together with the P marker until its end at Balatonföldvár station.

Along the noisy motorway, we climb back up the hillside regaining the lost elevation and enter the park forest beside Balatonföldvár on the hilltop. Although only a narrow strip of Somogy oak forest has survived here, a pleasant forest walk leads down to the town outskirts. As expected from a park forest, the wide walking path is lined with many benches and resting places. From here we cover barely two kilometers in the oak forest, descending gently until we reach the outermost houses of Földvár. From there we arrive on asphalt at route 7.

You can even walk into the center alongside the road; however, the P marker adds one more bend to extend the descending route since the Balatonföldvár shipping museum and lookout point lie below us on the edge of the Földvár high shore. This is worth including even if we do not enter the museum: from the path above the high shore, we can see the water of Lake Balaton and the opposite hills reflected in it almost from arm’s length. At the end of the path is the Földvár that gave the settlement its name. Here, on the edge of the high shore, stood a Celtic origin fortification, presumably built in the 4th century BC. The moat and walls details are still recognizable today. The path known as the Celtic promenade then arrives in the center. The P marker once again touches route 7, but it’s more worthwhile to cut through the park to the left of it under the plane trees typical of the Balaton shore (an unmarked section), and past the producer market, we arrive at the railway station, the end point of our hike.