Circular hike in the Vértes forest

Itinerary:

• From Mór, we start eastward on the P trail towards the Vértes plateau
• After passing Jancsi and Juliska's hut and leaving the gravel road, we follow the K+ trail to the National Blue Trail
• On the K trail, for about a kilometer, we continue together with the K+ trail, then for a short section without it
• Continue on the K ▲ trail to the Felső-cser clearing
• From the Felső-cser clearing, follow the Z trail for a few hundred meters to the ZL trail fork
• On the ZL trail, descend into the Buhin valley, then ascend to Csókakő Castle
• Return via the PL trail through Vár-valley and Csóka Hill to the vineyards above Mór
• On the initial part of our route, we return to Mór on the P trail

Description :

From the shoots of Mór's vineyards to the beech trees reaching the sky

Our starting point is the tidy town of Mór at the western foot of Vértes, the namesake center of the surrounding wine region. We start from the vow chapel built in the mid-18th century in honor of Saint Wenceslaus, the protector of animals, following a cattle plague, heading towards the forested massif surrounded by vineyards on the Vértes.

Mór has significant German connections in its history and culture. The conquering Hungarians arrived at an already inhabited settlement, the gateway opening from the upper Danube valley in the inner Carpathian Basin. King Andrew I defeated the German-Roman emperor’s troops under Székesfehérvár and drove them home along the Móri ditch on the slopes of Vértes. The starving, scattered mercenaries scattered their armor in the hillside, supposedly giving the mountain range north of Fehérvár its name Vértes.

What part of the sparkling mountain legend of Vértes is true, we no longer know; however, the Germans played an important role in revitalizing this depopulated region during the Turkish era. The Capuchin order and the Germans from the Rhine region, settled by Maria Theresa, brought their vine-growing culture and replanted the former vineyards bordering Vértes from the west. Thus the cuttings of Traminer, Riesling Silvaner and Green Veltliner typical of the Rhine region arrived here, and according to legend, the region’s defining grape variety, Ezerjó, was given to the Capuchins by the Tokaj monks.

By the mid-18th century, the majority German population's main livelihood was wine, transported via the Danube to Austrian and German regions. After the hardships of World War II and the years of retaliation, the local Germans were collectively blamed, and many, including those in Mór, were expelled from Hungary. Eleven thousand Germans had to leave their homes in Fejér County alone. Large parts of vineyards were nationalized, and the local agricultural cooperative did not reinvest in the otherwise profitable winemaking but supported loss-making sectors. Fortunately, after the regime change, many took their fate into their own hands, and the Mór wine region regained new momentum, restoring Ezerjó's old fame.

As the past calamities left the region, we also leave the town behind, crossing the railway along the P trail winding between vineyards and press houses, soon arriving at the Meszes valley, covered with mixed acacia forest. The path gradually climbs along the sandy, loessy hillside leaning on the limestone massif of Vértes. As the steepness and altitude increase, we enter progressively beautiful and older forest. The dominant trees typical for the surroundings are oak and beech. Upon reaching the Vértes plateau, we cross a forest management road winding on the plateau and descend gently into a wide valley head covered with dense, old beech woods.

Surprisingly, at this relatively low altitude, we already find extensive beech woods, shaded by the milder, moist air masses flowing in the Danube valley, tempering the continental climate typical of the Carpathian Basin. Here, at the northern and western edges of Bakony-Vértes-Gerecse, the climatic effect of the Atlantic Ocean is most noticeable, influencing dominant vegetation. Forest experts consider beech forests among the biggest losers of the strengthening climate change in Hungary, as preliminary calculations predict they will withstand hot, dry summers and extreme weather less and less. Due to their shallow, plate-like root system, beech trees cannot withstand drought or strong storms either. Probably here, at the northern part of Bakony and Vértes, thanks to the mitigating effect of the Atlantic, the climate changes least and contiguous beech forests remain preserved.

Wandering on the Vértes plateau

Gently descending on the slightly northward sloping plateau, we pass through dense forest, crossing small ravines. After less than a kilometer, we arrive at the Vértes Youth Camp, where we can rest in the shade of centuries-old trees by the cozy spring and the small dammed pond below. Take advantage of this rare water source! On the meadow next to the pond, children’s camp tents stand all summer, and there is also a nicely renovated accommodation operated by the Mór Catholic parish. Mainly families with children and schools hold educational forestry school programs, cultural and craft camps here.

Continuing on the gravel road following the P trail, we find an abandoned hut at the next small valley with a sign reading "Jancsi and Juliska's hut." The shady valley bottom, hidden in dense forest, really has a fairytale atmosphere befitting the name. At the forest ranger’s loading site, we leave the gravel road turning right, switching to the K+ trail and climb on a deeply cut sandy, loessy hillside. We are probably walking in the most beautiful forest of our route, a mossy bottom dense beech forest mixed with hornbeams, ashes, and oaks, while on the sunnier, warmer parts, continuous linden patches appear. In late spring, the buzzing diligence of wild bees reveals the blooming lindens and ashes, while in summer the fallen petals create a white veil on the ground.

On the ridge where Sikáros breaks off with a steep edge, we climb back to the plateau, joining the winding gravel road, which we follow for a short section. The K+ trail enters the forest again on a firebreak corridor to the right. From the height, fire protection clearings form a grid covering a large part of Vértes. The approximately ten-meter-wide, tree-free clearings divide the area into forest compartments, the basic units of forest management, and also serve as important firebreak lines preventing forest fire spread due to the lack of combustible material.

For us, the transporting function of the clearing is now particularly useful. Joining the National Blue Trail, we go through alternating beech, oak, and pine forests. Soon, the K+ trail leaves the National Blue Trail and for a short section, we follow only the K trail, then branch off to the K▲ trail beside the game fence of Kocsmáros Hill clearing. The K trail also leads toward Csókakő Castle, but our path varies slightly, as soon we switch from K▲ to the Z trail at the Felső-cser clearing junction. It is worth walking a few meters forward before turning back at the fork, as next to the road stands the Maurer Hut rebuilt in 2024, where overnight stays are possible. Shortly after turning right onto the Z trail, we soon turn left onto the ZL trail, which leads into the emerging gorge of Buhin valley.

On the zigzag ridge

The valley bordered with rocks descending from the plateau cuts deeper into the edge of the Vértes limestone massif and soon, merging with Vár valley, turns toward one of the mountain’s most spectacular gorges. We move again together with the National Blue Trail through a deep, rocky valley shaded by old trees. When least expected, a century-old beech tree base forms a wooden stairway climbing steeply on the mountainside with the ZL and PL markings, which we also ascend to the rocky ridge. Beyond the rocky rim, an astonishing view awaits as our previously closed forest path suddenly reaches the Csókakő Castle viewpoint.

The watchful Csókakő Castle on the rocky ridge was meant to monitor the Móri ditch below, the medieval military road passing here. The castle, which survived many wrecks, has renewed white walls shining from afar on the slopes of Vértes, from where we can see the whole Móri ditch and the eastern ends of Bakony. It is worth paying a visit to the newly built castle and scanning the land, long endured many hardships, through the eyes of Hungarian warriors and Turkish conquerors.

We descend back to Vár valley on the wooden stairs and for a short section follow the route we have traveled so far in reverse. However, now we turn left from the valley onto the PL trail leading to the ridge carrying Csókakő Castle, to the Csóka Hill block. However, the one of the highest points of Vértes is bypassed by the tourist route, which winds along the hill’s edge through a crooked karst scrub forest traversing the top of the steep slope. The twisting path is made scenic by several rocky viewpoints from which we see the vineyards between Csókakő and Mór, the heart of the Mór wine region.

After circling Csóka Hill, we descend into the steep incision of Harmatos valley, where majestic, ancient beeches guard above the nearly inaccessible, dense gorge forest. The path climbs diagonally over the water erosion on the cliff-edged, ravine-like valley side. Crossing the wilderness gorge over the water erosion and climbing the rocky opposite side, we leave it behind and descend further through an abandoned quarry, the former transport path, into the gentler terrain. Our route slowly merges back with the start of our hike, so we complete the last few hundred meters back to the town on the now familiar P trail.

Don’t forget to stop by a wine cellar to bid farewell and wash down the long journey with Ezerjó, a Hungarian unique treasure, or local wine to your taste, the nectar of the hill!