Beautiful view: Night Guckler circuit

Itinerary

• From Fenyőgyöngye, we start northeast on the National Blue Trail K marking.
• We follow this until the Z+ marking branches off to the right. We switch to it there.
• When the Z+ marking turns sharply right and meets the Z marking, we continue on the latter, maintaining the previous direction.
• At the Virágos saddle, turning left takes us back to the K marking, which steeply leads us to the top of Hármashatár Hill, the Károly Guckler lookout, then back all the way to Fenyőgyöngye.

Detailed description of the route

At Fenyőgyöngye, there is a bus terminus (65 and 65A BKV buses) and a car park. From here, it is 1 km to the start of the Guckler educational trail on the K marking.

The name of the educational trail is not accidental. It is primarily thanks to Károly Guckler, the chief city forester, that the barren hills of Buda, deforested due to population firewood needs by the early 1900s, are now covered with forest again. He also built the walking path running along the side of Hármashatár Hill, which was named after him in 1918 after his death.

After branching off from the K marking, the educational trail first follows the Z+ marking. Approximately at the halfway point, at Farkastorok, the Z marking joins from the left.

Farkas-torok is a deeply cut, overgrown, gorge-like valley on the northeast side of Hármashatár Hill. Its upper end is exactly at the educational trail, its lower end flows into Hedvig Street in Óbuda. Its name probably comes from the wild character of the valley rather than wolves living there. On both sides of the Farkastorony on the path are viewing terraces.

From here, our path continues on the Z marking to the Virágos saddle. Later, first the Guckler rock blocks our way, next to which an information board tells about the geological formation of the hill. Then we pass by the mining pit, where we can learn what the rock quarried from the hill’s side was used for.

The educational trail extends to the Virágos saddle. You can either return the same way to the start or choose a more exciting route: climb up on the K marking to the summit of Hármashatár Hill.

Hármashatár Hill is a wide ridge, separated from the next member of the range, Csúcs Hill, by a deep cut called Virágos saddle. Its name was for a long time Magas-hegy (Mons Excelsus), but by the 1800s it appeared as Drei Hotterberg (Hármashatár Hill), because it was the triple border of Buda, Óbuda, and Pesthidegkút. In 1847, on the occasion of a field naming ceremony, it was named Árpád orma, but this name version did not take root.

From the summit, you can also descend staying on the K marking to Fenyőgyöngye, where our hike ends.