Exploring the lakes of Black Hill

 Itinerary

• We start from the bus stop heading east towards Veszprém.
• After 200 m, the S trail starts in front of the Falumalom Museum.
• Crossing the forest watercourse, we climb up on the S▲ trail onto the top of the Király-kő rocks.
• Returning to the S trail, we follow it to Balatonhenye.
• At the Balatonhenye cultural center, turn right onto Petőfi Street, at its end turn left (south) onto an unmarked gravel road.
• This joins a paved road. We continue south on it for about 300 m, then turn off onto a dirt road.
• On the dirt road, between vineyards, we climb up to another path at the same level. We follow it to the left.
• At a forest patch, now following the K+ sign, we continue straight ahead.
• Before a group of trees, we turn left onto an unmarked path towards the Nagy-Csere spring.
• From the spring, we continue on the K● trail, then turn right at the K+ sign.
• At the intersection, we turn left following the K▲ sign.
• Arriving at the edge of the Black Hill basalt plateau, on the coexisting K and S▲ trails, we make a short detour to the Eötvös Károly lookout.
• From the lookout, we continue on the S▲ trail.
• At the split of the S▲ and S+ trails, we follow the latter turning right, which leads us back to the starting point.

Detailed description of the hike

Departure from Kapolcs

From the bus stop, we head towards the evangelical church on main road 77. The S trail starts from the Falumalom Museum and turns right onto Petőfi Street, moving away from the center and crossing the Egervíz brook (named after the alder trees growing along its banks) over the arched Kalapos Bridge. This old stone bridge got its name from the adjacent house, specifically from a former hat workshop; the master's apprentice used to wash paint off the hats here. The bridge remains an important transport feature of the village today.

We avoid one of the village's protected buildings, the old Turkish house, then turn right before the former brewery. The 18th-century noble manor monument was converted into a brewery in the mid-19th century; Czech masters brewed beer here in the 1860s and 70s. The building’s gable wall shows a beautiful copf style decoration. Next to it are two perpendicular cellar wings, to which a passageway was also built. One of the first owners was Colonel Kálmán Takács, after whom the house is named. His family had the largest estate in the village, so the cooperative was mainly formed from Takács family lands.

At the end of the steep street, we reach the forest on a loess-bottomed road, where the path to Király-kő passes through the Takács forest. The forest’s former owner was the above-mentioned Kálmán Takács. The path is divided into lower and upper sections. The "ásó" or "nearby side" path is closer to the village, the "főső" or "túsó" path is the farther section. The steeper parts are called "eregető." Earlier, because of heavy grazing, the path was more barren; where larger trees grew, it was also called the "gyükeres path." An old sign on the left indicates that soon we will reach the basalt cliffs of Király-kő. Smaller and larger stones sticking out of the climbing path show that during heavy rains and snowmelt, significant water masses rush down the path into the valley on our right.

Király-kő

The undergrowth soon disappears. Crossing the watercourse, we switch to the S▲ trail and climb up onto the top of the Király-kő rock formation.

About 5.5 million years ago, the Miocene-Pliocene Balaton Uplands basalt volcanism reached today's Kapolcs area. The glowing magma rising from deep underground, hotter than 1200 °C, met the wet sediment of the former Pannon Lake, which covered the area earlier, causing a series of powerful steam explosions until the water in the Pannon formation was depleted. These explosive eruptions created "dog bowl-shaped" pyroclastic rings from the ejected rock materials. Later eruptions allowed magma to reach the surface freely, forming lava lakes with lava fountains filling the rings. Eruptions gradually shifted south towards the current Black Hill, where the hot lava began cooling slowly. The more easily eroded pyroclastic rings wore away in several places, exposing the gray, about 400-meter-long basalt cliff of Király-kő, whose basalt columns were later shaped by wind and water erosion, similar to the basalt formations on Badacsony and Szent György Hill.

On the basalt plateau, in the 1960s, an old rampart measuring 80x50 m, still visible today and in places 20-40 cm high, was uncovered, which according to local legend bordered "Attila's castle." In reality, these could be the ramparts of a Bronze Age earth fort. From the top of the basalt columns, there are views over the Dörögdi Basin, Atibor Hill, and Imár Hill standing in the center of the basin, with Bondoró and Kab Hill also visible.

Besides its geological values, Király-kő is rich in protected plants such as red bird cherry, broad-leaved helleborine, bird’s-nest orchid, spotted iris, turban lily, and black pasqueflower.

The ancient beech of Henye

We return to the S trail and continue south. Out of the forest, we reach a meadow where we cross at the first tree in the middle and, about 20 m later, return to the forest on a slightly overgrown path.

At the split of the S+ trail, we continue straight in an original vegetation oak-hornbeam forest, then reach an overgrown grassy area that developed from former fields cleared during forest logging, once probably the best fields of the Káli Basin. To our right is a toothless field margin shrub strip, broken by a road and a hunting stand. On top of the stand under the corrugated sheet, we may encounter a large dormouse family living there.

Soon, a small path begins to the left towards the decaying remains of the about 400-year-old ancient beech of Henye. The impressive tree, even dead, probably sprouted in the early 17th century, so it was about 200 years old at the time of the forest clearing that created the surrounding fields. The area's owner at that time, the Halász family, preserved this tree for posterity. Contrary to the slender trunk trees known as forest species, these lone specimens develop strong side branches and wide crowns, thus utilizing light over a larger leaf area. In 2009, its chest-height trunk circumference was 564 cm, corresponding to a trunk diameter of about 180 cm. According to György Pósfai's book "Hungary's Largest Trees," this tree was the top among beeches.

Hornets nested inside the hollow tree in the mid-2000s, then the ancient tree caught fire on July 18, 2008. The following year, a large part of the crown was already dry, with a last shoot in 2010. The dried trunk fell in spring 2016.

Botos Hill

Along roads through meadows and fields, we proceed about 2 km south to reach Botos Hill. At the top, we can study tilted rock strata at a beautiful dolomite outcrop. To the northeast from Botos Hill, we see Henye Hill, which rose from the Pannon Lake that waved here 8.5-9.5 million years ago as an island. Its former position is well shown by the abrasion shore visible in its upper region. In the valley below the hill flows the Dobogó stream, fed by unrestricted springs and with its own karst water system, with enclosing rocks being Henye dolomite and Henye limestone. Its course ends in Lake Balaton as Burnót stream. Its so-called tunnel valley formed as the ancestor of the small watercourse initially flowed entirely through Pannon layers, then as the area rose, it cut into the Triassic and Permian rocks below, creating sometimes narrow gorge-like sections (e.g., Balatonhenye, Dobogó). The word burnót, or tobacco, means finely ground tobacco powder that is snuffed into the nose, absorbing nicotine through the nasal mucosa. On the southern side of Botos Hill is a dolomite rocky grass slope with a protected plant: the pink-flowered and arrow-shaped, gland-edged leafed arleaf flax.

Balatonhenye

Passing by the waterworks fence, we enter Balatonhenye at Csurgó Well. It is worth resting in the resting spot equipped with benches and tables. The spring surfaces at the eastern side of Dobogó stream, at the border of the lower section of the southern side of Harka.

The area around Balatonhenye was inhabited already in Roman times. The settlement was first mentioned in 1181 as Henney, where in 1262 noble serfs of Veszprém Castle lived. North of the village on Magyal Hill are ruins of a Pauline monastery built in honor of Saint Margaret, mentioned in a 1365 charter. The settlement was plundered twice by Turks in 1548 and 1572; the monastery was destroyed, but the settlement and its population survived the wars.

It got its name to distinguish it from Ördöghenye and Pethőhenye. It was a minor noble village before 1848; only 8 serf families lived here, so no large estate could develop on the hilly-valley border. In the 1870s and 80s, Károly Kerkapoly, Minister of Finance, had a 30-hectare fruit nursery and garden in Henye.

At the edge of the Black Hill basalt plateau

We head south on Kossuth Street, then at the cultural center, where the Catholic church of Our Lord's Transfiguration stands in the yard, turn right onto Petőfi Street. The parish of Köveskál's branch operates the church; its larger bell, the 62 cm high Saint Margaret bell, was cast by István Ducsák in 1969 in Őrszentmiklós, while the 46 cm small bell dates back to 1791 from Joseph Brunner’s workshop in Buda.

At the end of the street in the district called Kütyü, we turn left and walk south on an unmarked road by the well at the corner until reaching a small traffic paved road. We continue south on it. About 50 meters after passing the worn 3 km marker, we start following a rightward dirt road between vineyards, climbing to the old unmarked route of the National Blue Trail. We turn left on the upper dirt road and levelly reach a forest patch, where we switch to the K+ trail. Not far from here, a little below the road bend, the Kis-Csere well springs. Exiting the trees, we have views toward Köveskál, the volcanic vent remnants south of it, Kis- and Lapos-Hegyestű, and the Küsöb ridge behind them.

Before another intersection, we turn left before a tree group onto an unmarked path leading to the Nagy-Csere spring, continuing on the K● trail. The layered spring originating from the Pannon formation is protected by a beautiful arched spring house made of basalt against contamination.

The path leads to the continuation of the K+ trail, where we turn right towards the intersection. From here we continue left on the K▲ trail. On the first right branch, we enter the forest beside a holiday home. The narrow path leads alongside basalt stone wall/rampart remains. We climb steeply to the edge of the Black Hill basalt plateau. From here we turn left on the K trail to make a short detour to the Eötvös Károly lookout, where tables and benches offer a comfortable rest.

The Eötvös Károly Lookout

The lookout was first built in 1950 at an altitude of 369 meters on the plateau edge, made of basalt. In 1978, the current tower was built from redwood in its place. Until the late 2000s, it was one floor higher but was damaged by lightning. The remaining main beams were reused for renovation, but the uppermost level had to be dismantled. It is named after the well-known lawyer, politician, and publicist Károly Eötvös, who published his experiences collected during his 1880s visit in an anecdote and story collection titled “Journey around Balaton”.

In the canopy-covered lookout, a large dormouse population often feasts at night; the animals have already gotten used to human presence. From the upper floor, the Káli Basin unfolds below, whose eastern border is the Tó-hegy rising north of Monoszló, the Hegyes-tű south of it, and behind them Tar Hill. Heading south, the landscape merges into Lake Balaton, then the Pál, Bálint, and Szűcs hills close the eastern side of the basin. After the Küsöb ridge – Fenyős Hill – Fülöp Hill ridge, the lake's water surface reappears with Kővágóörs in the foreground, and north of it, the Kornyi Lake’s karst water surface. Further on are Tepécs and Rendesi hills, with Kékkút and Salföld in front, while on the southern shore of Lake Balaton, the hills of Sipos and Vár hill of Fonyód can be seen. After Szilvádi hill is the Permian red sandstone and conglomerate block of Örsi hill. Beyond it are the characteristic witness hills of the Tapolca Basin: Badacsony, Tóti hill, Gulács, and the three pyroclastic mounds of Szigliget: Antal hill, Hálás peak, and Vár hill. Behind them lie the abrasion terraces of the Keszthely Mountains stepping up to the long, flat plateau, from whose forefield the basalt hats of Szent György hill and Csobánc appear. In front finishes the Káli Basin's western edge with Kopasz hill, Köves hill, and Hajagos, with Mindszentkálla and Szentbékkálla ahead. The landscape shows its particularly beautiful face at dawn and sunset, especially if we catch thunderstorms towering over the witness hills.

Series of inland water lakes on the hilltop

From the lookout, we continue on the S▲ trail. Soon we reach the Bonta lake, the westernmost lake of the hill (locally called tótállás), whose rare protected plant is the adder's-tongue buttercup. Currently, 35 protected plant species are known from the hill.

On the plateau, about half a dozen lakes with varying water levels, 50-100 m in diameter and 1-2 m deep, have extremely small catchment areas. They likely formed in depressions filled by lava flows inside the maar craters of Black Hill, where the clayey weathered basalts formed "linings" that held rainwater over time. Their replenishment depends solely on precipitation, yet their waters are dark brown and slightly acidic (pH 4.8–5.2) due to decomposition products and humic acids leaching from the swampy surroundings. Based on the plateau's surface depressions, more than 10 such lakes likely existed before, all preserving glacial relic vegetation: floating willow marshes. These rare distinct vegetation types hosted many characteristic marsh species, but nowadays species have sharply declined or disappeared due to drying, replaced by common or invasive species – e.g., peat moss species occur only in isolated patches in the Monostori Lake's shrinking peat bog. Some lakes disappeared due to climate change, while others' waters drained through erosion ditches cutting the plateau's edge – such as the Vaskapu ditch.

Turning right on the unmarked road before the lake basin, we follow the ZT, then switch to the S▲ trail to circle Bika lake, one of the plateau’s two permanent water-covered lakes. We arrive by a short slope at Barkás lake, whose willow marsh burned in 1992 following the droughts of the 1980s. Its vegetation has only partly recovered; peat mosses have not reappeared. Passing between the lake and Vaskapu valley, through a northern meadow after Öreg hill, we reach Monostori lake, the deepest depression of the plateau. In the Middle Ages, during cooler, rainier periods, crucian carp were fished here. The continuation of the activity is confirmed by András Vályi’s 1796 work "Description of Hungary," noting "…there are many fish but fishing is difficult." In 1957, our renowned botanist Ádám Boros described the floating marsh vegetation here, which algologist Gábor Uherkovich characterized in 1979 as "perhaps the most characteristically unique floating marsh section in our country, flexible like a mattress…" The floating marsh has suffered severely from increasingly dry years, but protected royal fern and three protected peat moss species are still found today.

Continuing, we reach Cserkás lake at the road's right curve, its center rising with sedge tussocks. In the early 20th century, these large tussocks were collected from the lakes to be dried and carved into sedge chairs. Unfortunately, all Black Hill lakes have seen their once species-rich vegetation impoverish due to longer summer droughts and have been invaded by species like goldenrod.

Leaving the forest, we walk along fields and reach Kávás well on the side of the Gajos Hill volcanic cinder cone. Around the well were the pastures of Balatonhenye farmers and the former pasture forest of Pacsirtás. North of the well at the forest edge, we can find iron-red vesicular basalt stones and twisted spindle bombs formed from lava spatter flying from lava fountains visible in the lava lake.

At the split of the S▲ and S+ trails, following the latter turning right, we soon reach two adjacent lakes of about 1 hectare basin area: Kettős and Kálomis lakes. Their formation and wildlife are similar to the previously seen lakes, as is their usage. Some very old locals still recall that fish were caught from Kálomis lake with wicker baskets in the past. This lake also suffered from drought years. The national park plans to restore surrounding wooded pastures here.

Back to Kapolcs

Soon we return to the intersection of the S and S+ trails, where we started the hike, but now we follow the S+ trail, which turns right at a watercourse then left onto a gravel road. For a short stretch, the path is lined with pyroclastic rocks. We reach Dózsa György Street, which crosses the Eger water over the old three-arched Falu Bridge and leads us into the center of Kapolcs. Turning left on Kossuth Street, we return to the bus stop.