Exploring the Káldi Farkas Forest

• From the Káld, Pusztalánci utca bus stop, we follow the K markings to the entrance of Farkas Forest.
• Soon after the entrance of Farkas Forest, we take a small detour to the left on the KT marking.
• We return to the K marking and continue until the K▲ junction.
• The K▲ marking, passing by the Scherg Lőrinc Lookout, rejoins the K marking.
• We follow the K marking to the Hidegkút hunting lodge.
• From the hunting lodge to the Maria Theresa spring, we follow the K● markings.
• From the Maria Theresa spring, we proceed on an unmarked track to reach the K+ marking.
• We follow the K+ marking to its end, at the K marking junction.
• The K markings lead back to Káld.

Detailed description of the route

Leaving Káld

From the Káld, Pusztalánci utca bus stop, we head north on the National Blue Trail K markings, which turn left in front of the Korona Café, thus avoiding the main sights of the village: the Catholic church decorated with paintings by István Dorfmeister and the Baroque-style Káldy Castle. We pass the Maróthy manor house, whose modestly decorated walls have peeling plaster and are in quite poor condition, awaiting its fate from a distance.

Turning right from József Attila street into Mária street – behind a fitness park – you can see the Lutheran bell tower of Káld, built in 1861. The village's only church is Catholic; currently, there is no Lutheran congregation in Káld, and members belong to the nearby Kissomlyó parish. We leave behind the cemetery (“we rise!”) and then the football pitch (“up! we rise!”), which is slowly being covered with wildflowers due to the lack of a football team, and pass through the gate marking the border of the Farkas Forest.

In the Farkas Forest

We enter the largest and one of the largest contiguous forests in Vas County and Transdanubia, mainly made up of hornbeam-oak forests. Sustainable forestry has been practiced here for over a hundred years amid the gentle hills of Kemeneshát, so although the Farkas Forest is not protected, we can encounter many old trees, some over 200 years old. To the left from the K markings branches off the KT marked Forest Knowledge Nature Trail, with 10 stations where we can learn in detail about the area and forests in general, as well as forestry.

After a small loop amidst glades, we return to the gravel road deep within the Farkas Forest, which, after crossing a wide gas pipeline clearing, "clears itself": it curves out of the forest, offering a beautiful view to the right of the Ság hill. Appreciate this gentle curve: the Farkas Forest’s mostly straight, perpendicular glades mostly feature right-angle turns. Among young trees planted in a few-year-old clear-cut area, mainly undergrowth of oaks, we arrive at the K▲ marked junction enhanced with a signboard labeled "lookout."

Renowned Elders

The marking leads straight and gently uphill to the Scherg Lőrinc Lookout, built in 2015, from where we can see the Bakony and the witness hills of Kemenesalja. The lookout tower, shaped like a traditional Vas bell tower, is named after perhaps the most famous forester of the Farkas Forest, Lőrinc Scherg. Born in Bavaria, already known there for modern forestry, he was invited to the estate of Prince Lajos of Bavaria in Sárvár. He served in the Farkas Forest for over 50 years, transforming its neglected open, juniper-rich pasture forests into valuable natural and economic forests. Lőrinc Scherg died in 1938; he and his wife share a grave in the Farkas Forest alongside the National Blue Trail.

We continue sharply left on the K▲ markings. We cross several significant valleys in the Kemeneshát area, likely carved by north-flowing streams into the gravel cover, then climb upward on a slope to Pilóta Hill. The name commemorates nobleman pilot László Molnár, Hungary's most successful fighter pilot in WWII, who crashed here in an air battle with American planes on August 7, 1944, and died heroically. The roadside cross erected by the Szombathely Forestry reminds us of this.

Hidegkút

The K▲ markings return to the K markings; we follow the latter. After a right turn, we reach the Hidegkút hunting lodge on a wide forestry road, currently operating as a forest accommodation. Nearby is the Kisboldogasszony Chapel, built in 2017.

On the left is a long row of pyramid oaks, probably also planted by Scherg, and the K● marking starts on the asphalt road below – we follow this on the next section of our route. Around the hunting lodge lie the trunks of old fallen trees, also reminding us of Lőrinc Scherg’s work: he preserved old trees standing in the area instead of cutting them down. It’s not accidental that in the Farkas Forest we meet many old trees; some are still alive, others are dead (for example, the Banyafák or the old oak on the later part of our route). WWF Hungary also declared this forest a Sacred Forest, as it meets their own definition: the proportion of old trees is significant within the entire stock.

In the Sacred Forest

Of course, we find old trees with varying density across the vast Farkas Forest. The K● marking follows a long belt of meadow belonging to the Hidegkút hunting lodge and then enters the forest – from here, along our route, we see an increasing number of living 200-250-year-old trees that stand out in size among their peers.

Walking along the edge of the meadow, we reach a resting bench in the shade of knobby old trees, next to an information board detailing the history of the nearby Maria Theresa Spring – or Trézia Well. We cross a fenced sapling garden, then a wooden bridge leading to the very neglected environment of the spring. The water, even if dripping, according to the sign, is not potable; the shelter is slowly being overgrown by nettles. However, an interesting sight is a very tall Douglas fir enclosed by a fence.

The somewhat faded present is the descendant of a glorious past: in Vas County, the first nature conservation areas were designated in 1942, including the spring and its surroundings, alongside the Káldi Lajos beechwoods and others. It was named after the former owner, Maria Theresa of Habsburg-Este, who married the later Bavarian King Ludwig III in 1875. She was the one who invited Lőrinc Scherg to Prince Lajos’s Sárvár estate as part of her dowry.

The circle closes

The K● marking ends at the spring, so we start right from the shelter, beside the aforementioned Douglas fir. At the first opportunity, we turn left: we follow this unmarked track all the way to its end, about 1.7 km. The terrain is rather featureless; perpendicular linear features dissect the forest. After passing a hunting stand and a group of red pines, a sensational sight awaits: a huge tree even bigger and older than the previous ones stands a bit deeper in the forest, surrounded by benches for those who want to settle and contemplate.

The narrowing glade that turns into a narrow path ends at the T junction of the K+ marked gravel road. Here we turn right, then soon left: we cross a young plantation on a site of cut forest, and shortly after the National Blue Trail K markings join us. It’s worth making a 50-meter detour on the markings to the remains of the old oak that toppled in 1995, lying on the roadside. We leave the former Lajos beech woods rest area behind, then return to the K▲ junction: the loop closes, and from here we return to Káld on the familiar route.