From Bakóca to the ravens’ nest

Itinerary

• From Bakóca we follow the K+ sign to the branch of the South Transdanubian Blue Trail.
• At the branch we turn left onto the K sign.
• A sign indicates the path to the Hollófészek lookout on the left, from here we reach the lookout on the K▲ sign.
• We return to the K sign, which we leave at the branch after the hunting ground on a short detour.
• From the corner of the hunting ground we follow the K◼ sign straight to the asphalt road branching off to the right.
• We walk along the unnamed road to the Nagymáté hunting lodge, from whose park we rejoin the K● sign.
• We turn left on the K● sign, but only for a few metres.
• We walk back on the K◼ sign to the branch found at the corner of the hunting ground.
• At the branch we turn left onto the K sign, which we follow to the next branch.
• The last section is done on the now familiar K+ sign, which leads back to Bakóca.

Detailed description of the tour

On the clay ridge of Zselic

Bukovica, meaning beech forest – the name Bakóca comes from this Slavic word, carrying with it the most striking feature of the village’s surroundings, the forest cover that envelops everything around the pastures. The village is almost entirely surrounded by the lowering ridges of Zselic, so from the bus turnaround we first have to climb out of the valley. Do not trust the worn wooden sign marked "Lookout"; it would lead to another tower, the Hollófészek peak can be reached via the K+ sign. This follows the street turning towards the pastures, then bends onto a clay road beside the open grassland. The slow chewing of the grazing cattle is accompanied by a picturesque backdrop of gently rolling hills surrounding the village basin.

Just as agriculture, the transportation is also disadvantaged by the clay soil covering the area: the clay swells when wet and turns into sticky mud, while otherwise it easily dries out and cracks. Therefore, it is not advisable to visit Zselic during or immediately after rainy periods, as the forest paths become practically impassable – worsened by heavy forestry machinery loaded with logs.

In the footsteps of István Fekete

Upon entering the forest we tread a wide bulldozer road, first in a deep path, then turning from a long straight stretch flanked by young forest onto the South Transdanubian Blue Trail route, where the signboard of the István Fekete memorial trail welcomes us. The writer was an assistant officer at the Bakóca Majláth estate, his wife also originated from there, and they were married in the village. The autobiographical novel "Ballagó idő" (Departing Time) chronicles the years spent in the area, and the boards of the trail mostly contain stories or excerpts written by István Fekete.

Here we turn left onto the K sign, which heads towards the summit point of Zselic in an older forest, initially with a moderate ascent. The ascent ends, and to the left and backwards an abandoned forest road leads to an older lookout, of which only ruins remain. Staying on the South Transdanubian Blue Trail, we arrive at a junction at the corner of a hunting ground. Here we turn left and, passing a food-providing field for the game and leaving a hunting blind behind, we climb a short slope. From the end of the hunting ground follows another short ascent, this time the last. Soon a sign on the left draws attention to the Hollófészek lookout, which can be reached on the K▲ sign.

The lookout and the hunting lodge

The lookout, completed in 2023, pierces the high oak canopy, raising the 358-metre hilltop by 28 metres. At the base of the wooden tower there is a covered resting place; from the lookout level one can see the forest waves of Zselic, with the entire Mecsek ridge visible to the east. On less humid days, some of the witness hills of the Balaton Uplands, such as Badacsony, appear to the northwest, as well as the Keszthely Mountains, and beyond the Dráva plain to the south, the long mountain chain of Papuk in Croatia.

It is worth returning to Bakóca on the same route, but one can also descend to the village from the east on unmarked paths. On the marked route back, we follow the K sign, from which after the hunting ground we take the K◼ sign, heading straight to the Nagymáté hunting lodge. Leaving the parking lot, we turn right onto an unmarked asphalt road, which leads to the lodge along beautiful meadows, beside the botanical garden. In front of the small but attractive building standing in the green surroundings stands the bust of István Fekete, a deer statue, and if we enter the botanical garden, we can also see the collection mainly consisting of pines along the 600-metre István Fekete memorial trail. The hunting lodge was built roughly 10 years after the planting of the shrubs, at the end of the 1970s; today it operates as accommodation. It is worthwhile to walk around the park surrounding the building, where we also find a covered pavilion lower down; behind it, turning left on the K● sign, after a few metres we can rejoin the K◼ sign (to the left).

The area near the hunting lodge, sparsely inhabited, started its "career" as the estate farm of György Majlath, from where the small settlement with few residents, named Györgymajor, originates. Walking around the houses and through the parking lot, we get back to the K sign, which we follow on the familiar route to descend back to Bakóca.