Ferns' Path - Blue hike (medium)

Itinerary:

Along the route, follow the blue Ferns' Path sign.

• Starting from Botfa next to the Erdődy-Hüvös Castle, we head north through the Felső-Válicka valley.
• Parallel with the road, at the end of a long straight section, turn right to arrive at Csácsbozsok, part of Bozsok.
• Turn right on Bozsoki street and continue towards the outskirts of the settlement.
• After the barrier, continue on the dirt road on the left side.
• At a forest road crossing, turn right and climb up to Karácsony Hill.
• Walk about 1 km along the ridge, then descend with a sharp right turn.
• At the first roadside cross, turn right; at the second, turn left.
• Return to Botfa via Alsó-Avashegyi street.
• Walk through the settlement, then at the bus stop walk up to our starting point, the Erdődy-Hüvös Castle.

Detailed description of the route:

Botfa, known as an independent settlement until 1981 and since then a district of Zalaegerszeg, is primarily known for its castle. The originally single-storey manor was built in 1750 by the then owner of the area, the Erdődy family. In 1880, it was acquired along with the estate by Áron Hirschel, who renovated the Baroque style building, expanded it, and added romantic, bastion-like balconies at both ends. His son Salamon, who Magyarized the family name to Hüvös, inherited the re-founded estate. After WWII, the building was mostly used for educational and cultural purposes; it currently operates as the Mindszenty Youth House, providing accommodation and community space for hikers and pilgrims. The English park around the castle is still colloquially called “Ánglis.” Since the Ferns' Path also starts along this edge, we can admire the lime trees over 120 years old and the century-old horse chestnut groves.

An interesting fact is that between the village and its southern neighbor, Csatár, there was once an Árpád-era wooden fort, traces of which are lost but the name of Várberki street, where our starting point is located, still preserves its memory.

On the edge of town and forest

From Botfa, we walk nearly 4 km in a straight line through the Felső-Válicka valley to Bozsok. The proximity of the water and former floodplain is shown by the presence of resin birch and alder trees, and if we look further down, we can find many ferns, the namesake plants of our route. A few hundred meters parallel to our path runs Route 74, which we cannot see, though the noise from its traffic carries up to here. This does not detract from the beauty of the landscape: initially, the path runs through a mixed plantation forest with Scots pines, sharing the way with the Mária path from Nemeshetés. Midway the section, the forest opens up to meadows colorful with wildflowers. A soft grass-covered cart track replaces the earlier forest dirt road as we gain wider views of Zalaegerszeg to our left. The fact that we walk on the border of nature and civilization is marked by the round tanks of the oil refinery visible over the trees. Arriving at Csácsbozsok along a wooded edge path, we reach the other Ferns' Path starting sign at Szabadság street.

From the garden suburb up above the town

Csácsbozsok, now part of Zalaegerszeg, was formed by the merging of the villages Csács and Bozsok. Bozsok has been famous for its forests since the Middle Ages and luckily it still is. The area’s forests are cut by tourist trails, and the Csácsbozsok Arboretum was established along the city limit, showcasing the county's diverse tree population. Between the two formerly independent villages runs the less natural barrier of Route 76. All three variants of the Ferns' Path start from Bozsok, south of the road, and remain on that side, weaving through the Csács-Botfa forest block.

We continue from the pleasant green garden suburban area in the direction indicated by the sign, at first ascending subtly along the side of Bozsoki Hill. The asphalt of Bozsoki street turns into a dirt road after the barrier, immediately revealing the advantages and disadvantages of clay soil: in summer the road does not become dusty, but during wet weather (which is not rare here) it might be quite challenging. The great advantage of the area is that although we have moved only a few steps away from “civilization,” we are already in a dense forest. Due to wetter than average weather for the country, air humidity is noticeably higher in the valleys.

Soon we arrive beside a clearing reclaimed by plants after logging. We can spot fast-growing alder trees, a few oak saplings a few centimeters high, and occasionally just sprouting ferns. Originally, this was the densest habitat of the route’s namesake ferns which is why the information board about them is placed here. This does not mean that smaller or bigger ferns cannot be spotted along the route, so it’s worth keeping your eyes open. The two most common fern species are the male fern and the lady fern; these non-flowering plants that keep their green color until December thrive in lush undergrowth of moist surroundings in nutrient-rich deciduous and coniferous forests. In oak, beech, and pine habitats, the nettle-leaved and kidney ferns can also be found less frequently. Ferns are special among perennials because they have no flowers or fruit and reproduce by spores. We can observe these ourselves from July to September during the spore ripening season when the spores are lined clearly on the undersides of leaves.

We walk in the former floodplain of the Zala River, where lower areas still preserved their flat, swampy character. Here the alder tree thrives, giving its name to the city of Zalaegerszeg. We repeatedly meet resin birches along the route, as well as alders accompanying the first forest junction. Here we turn right and start climbing up the highest of the Zalaegerszeg vineyards: Karácsony Hill. The honorific “hill” is traditional for the Zala vineyards although even the highest barely exceeds 300 m in height.

However, we have to climb this too, beginning in a water-eroded gully. The almost vertical walls and typical deep roads were shaped by steeply descending water on soft clay soil, later deepened and widened by everyday use to make a passable route. Later on, especially near settlements, we will encounter asphalt-lined variations but the road to Karácsony Hill remains a relatively narrow ditch in natural state.

Our route is accompanied by lush vegetation which soon flattens and as thinning vegetation gives way, views open to the surrounding hills of the forest block. After a few hundred meters, we reach Karácsonyhegyi road where the three paths that so far ran together split: while the red way returns to the forest, the green and blue Ferns path continue to the hill top.

Among vineyards and orchards

We reach the top of Zalaegerszeg as Karácsony Hill at 305 meters is the city’s highest point (even 1 m higher than Kandikó, the highest point of adjacent Göcsej!). On the narrow ridge lies a realm of fruit trees, vineyards, and weekend cottages, among which we can enjoy fantastic panoramic views. Once every settlement had at least one vineyard where locals cultivated their grapes – we experience its traces and traditions in this especially charming place.

Over the next narrow 1 km, on the sites of former barrel cellars covered with reed or straw, we see newly built houses, abandoned lots, old press houses, and well-maintained summer houses making for a very diverse picture. The climate and soil conditions are perfect for fruit growing here, so in summer and autumn the gardens abound with apple, pear, plum, peach and walnut trees heavy with ripe fruit, while in spring thousands of blooming fruit trees brighten the landscape with cheerful color.

From the hilltop, although the Karácsony Hill and surrounding hills did not rise much above a few hundred meters, the creek valleys cut steeply between them. On the eastern and western sides of the ridges stretching south, vineyards are planted in neat rows, their reflections returning from the opposite hills. Stopping among houses or empty lots, a wonderful view opens westwards revealing the dual faces of Zalaegerszeg: on one hand, the wooded, rolling green of the Felső-Válicka and Zala valley, on the other, the plethora of houses indicating city and industry presence, highlighted by the oil refinery. The harmonious mosaic landscape is crowned by the TV tower at the top of Bazita visible from far away.

After the houses end, we start to descend with a sharp right turn; while vineyards occupy the upper parts of the slopes, orchards and arable lands take the main role lower down, seen alongside the winding road. In front of the fork marked by a wooden cross, huge sweet chestnut trees stand guard. These centuries-old giants occur here as admixtures in natural forests due to the sub-Mediterranean effect, but they were once widely cultivated on estates for their versatile timber. However, a fungal disease has now decimated their numbers.

At the next fork with tension wire marking, the blue and green routes split; following the blue sign, we turn onto Alsó-Avashegyi street heading back to Botfa. The landscape at Avas Hill resembles that recently seen at Karácsony Hill: vineyards and various buildings line the hillside, and in one place there is even a pine tree plantation – perhaps growing next year’s Christmas tree. Between plots, glimpses of the Vállicka valley’s rolling wooded landscape appear, with the Bazita TV tower still serving as a compass behind.

We descend back to Botfa in an asphalt-lined gully. Upon reaching the main road of the formerly independent village, we turn right and walk past neat houses until at the far end opposite the bus stop (Botfa, Botfa street) a short street ends revealing among the trees the onion-domed tower of the Catholic church. We walk up to the late Baroque church and thus return to the start of our hike, the Erdődy-Hüvös Castle.