Circular hike on the Kendig ridge

Itinerary

• From the Velem bus turnaround follow the K+ marker.
• We pass by the Saint Vitus Chapel, crossing the asphalt road.
• After a pine forest, we reach the asphalt road parking lot where we turn right onto the K▲ marker.
• We continue along the ridge section and begin descending at the Red Cross on the S+ marked hiking trail.
• We turn onto asphalt; the S+ leaves it to the left – we continue following the car road!
• The P marker joins us at a bend; we follow it forward.
• The P marked path leaves the concrete and winds along the hillside, eventually crossing the Velem asphalt road again and returning to Velem.

Detailed tour description

Velem - Saint Vitus Chapel

Following the K+ marker, we set off northwest from the Velem bus turnaround. On the right, we pass the Bronze Age building of the archaeological theme park, then leave the village straight ahead past the empty hotel. For a while, the educational signs of the Cultures’ Mountain nature trail inform us about the mountain range’s ancient, rich history. We move away from the flowering stream to our right, going up a deeply rutted path with exposed roots to a sharp left bend. If we continue straight, within 2 minutes we can find the neglected but covered spring of Saint Spring.

We climb along a beautiful forest path; on the right, the well-maintained building of Saint Vitus Chapel suddenly appears among the foliage. We climb the chapel’s stone steps between slate outcrops; to the left, one of two artificial rock hollows houses a shrine statue. We find ourselves in a place with a lively cultural history: in the Bronze Age, a kind of town was built on the artificially sculpted terraces on the hillside. Later, a Roman watchtower protecting the water system was established here, and in the 18th century the chapel was built (which got its current form only in 1859).

Saint Vitus Chapel - Kendig

Behind the chapel, there is a Blue Trail memorial commemorating the former hiking movement that the strict border guarded here. We cross the asphalt road winding toward the peak region (passing the Living Forest nature trail). We clearly move away from settlements, walking through more natural, impenetrable forests. We cross a pine patch on our ascent, then at a left turn reach the edge of another coniferous forest. We don't stay long: soon we head right for the last climb leading to the ridge. We pass through a dense, dark pine patch with alpine atmosphere and emerge onto the asphalt strip of the Velem road. (Going ahead on it for 4-5 minutes, we can visit the Hörmann spring enclosure, though its water is unfortunately not drinkable.)

Our march continues rightward: the K▲ marker leads through perhaps the most spectacular section of the mountain range. We traverse a distinctly prominent ridge over 700 meters high, gently undulating along its middle section. We push through a dense, cool microclimate of apparently well-preserved pine forest. However, the stock is not healthy everywhere: soon we reach the edge of a cleared area. An information board explains that pests attacked the pine forest weakened by warming and drying climate; new growth is now emerging, and in the future, a more resistant mixed forest will grow here.

We are in a unique section: due to young pines growing on the lawn, it feels like walking on the border of alpine meadow and dwarf pine forest. The highland experience is enhanced by the wide alpine panorama opening to the left. In the subalpine ridge around Semmering, the massive rock blocks of Rax and Schneeberg reveal the wild beauty of the magical Alps. We are on an important watershed: here the eastern boundary of the Alps meets the plains of the Carpathian Basin. To the right, beyond the plain of the Little Hungarian Plain, the ridges of Bakony just emerge, and on clear days, the witness hills of the Balaton Uplands can also be identified. To the north, through the trees, the mirror of Lake Fertő gleams, behind which numerous wind turbines dot the lower slopes of the Leitha Mountains.

Kendig - Red Cross

Another pine forest follows, this time descending, then we climb again through a forest clearing to the 726-meter summit of Kendig. A rock nicely reveals the layered, thin-plate structure of phyllite before us. Here we get the last broad view of the Alps. Although after bypassing the radio tower on the summit, we arrive at a clearing, from here we rather look towards the Little Hungarian Plain, where the panel housing estates of Szombathely spread out. Below in the dense forest, the tower of Saint Vitus Chapel rises.

The barely noticeable elevation of Bald Kendig is no longer treeless, but a beautiful rock on its side shows the way. Here and there remnants of former military establishments rise from the ground, but the ridge is covered by a wild, beautiful forest. We reach the Red Cross, which marks the path crossing the mountain range, next to another natural pine patch.

Red Cross - Velem

We continue right on the S+ marked hiking trail, eventually reaching the asphalt road through an oak forest with grassy ground. Turning right on it, we don’t leave it when the hiking trail leaves to the left. We walk further to a sharp bend where we can take a detour to the Enikő spring! The slate rock resists water, not really conducting it far from the absorption area; hence numerous springs arise here on the ridge’s side. They feed short, straight-running streams.

We follow the P marker until it turns left off the road! We cut through dense regrowth, then reach the border of the country’s largest contiguous sweet chestnut forest. Next to the Electric spring stands an old chestnut tree stub – and around the unconfined water outlet naturally spreads a small creek. A tiring but short ascent begins; we walk in forests of varying composition, then head down again to the edge of Cák.

The hiking trail does not spare us, and from here it goes uphill again: soon it turns left at a fork, where a single sign draws attention to the 120-year-old Atlas cedar we find 20 meters away. The tree is already on private property: although there is no gate, we can admire its impressive, fan-like spreading crown from outside the fence. Our path soon descends to the bottom of the Borha valley, crossing a stream. (If we follow the watercourse, we can be on Velem’s main street about 1 km away.) The last climb is annoyingly exhausting: it circles around Velem’s outer houses, climbs the asphalt road, then cutting its hairpin bends, returns to the village on a steep, slippery path.

Detailed tour description can be read under the Route Description menu item.