From the "Grand Canyon" to the Norwegian Preikestolen on the Biatorbágy hills

Itinerary

• From Biatorbágy railway station we follow the P+ marking to Pálya street (but we can also follow it to the viaduct).
• From here, we walk on the other branch of Fő street, on the far side of the park to the viaduct (or we can go through the park as well).
• From the viaduct, we follow the S marking all the way to the solitary forest pine after the Kő-orr rock terrace.
• From the forest pine, we turn right onto an unmarked but wide, well-passable dirt road that takes us up to the ruins of the LÉRAK bunkers on top of Iharos.
• After leaving the bunkers, we continue our hike on an unmarked, wide, well-passable dirt road, paying attention to the junctions based on the attached map.
• At the corner of Otelló and Nyakaskő dűlő street, we turn sharply right, stepping onto the P+ marked hiking trail.
• From a fork, we follow the P marked trail straight to Nyakas-kő, which we can climb via an unmarked, narrow rocky path.
• Returning to the P marking, we continue on it to the Szily Chapel.
• Here we turn back on the P marking and at the junction, turn right to the Red Chapel signs.
• Reaching the town, the P marking joins again, and we follow it to the viaduct.
• From the viaduct, going around the gas station, we proceed along Kossuth Lajos and Karinthy Frigyes streets to reach the end of our circular route, the Biatorbágy railway station.

About the hike in detail

From the Swabian village scene to the gateway of nature

Starting from our departure point at the railway station, we immediately find ourselves on a wide street characteristic of Swabian settlements. Joining the P+ marking, on Dózsa György street which widens funnel-shaped, we can instantly recognize the Swabian roots. Passing by the allegorical female figure of the Trianon memorial and the Church of the Virgin Mary’s name, we quickly arrive at the Füzes stream at the foot of the settlement, where we take a sharp left turn. Here the street is so wide that beside the stream there is plenty of room for a park and a paved road resembling a promenade. Such a rural promenade is a true curiosity. It’s worth choosing either the park or the branch of Fő street on the opposite side to the viaduct instead of following the P+ marking.

The shadow of the past sharply cuts into the peaceful, calm environment as we spot the German expulsion memorial: a female figure with all her personal belongings wrapped in a cloth beside her. Next to it, the inscription: “They came with a bundle..., 1946.” From here, the iconic Biatorbágy railway viaduct rises majestically above us, and we can take a small detour on safe steps to its top. Today no trains run there anymore, but while climbing up, besides the fantastic panorama, we can recall the event of 1931. That year, shortly after midnight on September 13, Szilveszter Matuska blew up the railway bridge under a Vienna express train passing over it. The attack claimed 22 victims. The perpetrator was caught a month later and sentenced to life imprisonment. He escaped from prison in Vác in 1944; multiple details of his life thereafter remain a mystery, even to historians.

Returning to the ground, at the roundabout under the bridge, we must pay close attention to the exit we take! From here, the S marking leads on an asphalt strip also used by cars.

Closer and closer to nature

Although we left the town center behind with the viaduct, we must expect traffic from the weekend cottage area, so proceed cautiously, in single file! On the left are holiday houses, on the right a marshy meadow – just because of the latter we must stay on the asphalt. Soon we pass another Trianon memorial, which stands in a somewhat neglected environment compared to the former (a double cross with a historical Hungary map). Following the marking on the wide road at a brisk pace, we leave the houses behind, unnoticed getting closer to nature.

Suddenly, we hit a gate and a massive fence clearly marking private property. The deep barking of dogs accentuates the private nature, but the structure of the fence is also worthy of respect, so there is no reason to worry. From this point, the path truly takes on the character of a hiking trail, closely following the fence and circling the entire hacienda. As the fence and the trail suddenly separate, we leave all sorts of signs of civilization behind, and the forest insulates so well that we cannot hear noise even from the highways about a kilometer away.

Now comes the point where we can finally start working. The steep ascent ahead of us is straight, but luckily we can see its end. Our heels don’t touch the ground for a good 5-10 minutes from here, but at least our calves get shaped; then a stretch isn’t a bad idea either. Upon reaching the first plateau, the narrow path sometimes has some annoying branches hanging, and the waves of the path remind us of the motocross track in Piliscsévi. Stay alert because on the right we immediately get our hike’s first gift, the panorama of entire Biatorbágy. On maps, this point modestly appears only as a “rock viewpoint.” This is just a prelude to the Kő-orr rock plateau reachable in a few minutes, an excellent place for a substantial relaxation.

The first catharsis

As the title suggests, the rock could be the domestic replica of the world-famous Norwegian Preikestolen, because it is as uplifting an experience to lean out on it as on its larger sibling located about one and a half thousand kilometers north. Afterwards, watch your feet, because a sharp right turn leads the path down exactly into the valley we seemed to hover above a moment ago. In a skiing posture, crouched knee bent, mastering the ground, we quickly reach the lowest point of the valley but can then start up straight to the opposite side with the same momentum.

Beware! Here begins probably the only section of the hike where we really have to think. This straight, upward path suddenly narrows so much that there is no further passage in the usual corridor. We must veer left onto a narrow trail that winds 2-3 bends up to the plateau. The closed forest ends, and we reach a bushy area grown on a site of a deforestation many years ago. If we see a solitary, sky-reaching forest pine standing out in the landscape like a lighthouse, we are in the right place.

Up to the bunkers, to the top of the Biai hills

From this point on, we say goodbye to our previous guide, the S marking, and turning right onto a dirt road beaten with tire tracks, we conquer the highest of the Biai hills, Iharos. During the decades of socialism and shortly after, it was a similar air defense missile base as the better-known Pilis-tető one. Perhaps precisely because of this heritage, this base also fell into decay after the regime change, although the bunkers themselves, defying external forces and despite being stripped, seem to have lasted for a long time.

LÉRAK is the abbreviation designating former Air Defense Missile Bases. These concrete silos, mostly in the shape of brick blocks, were made according to type plans, similar to other buildings around Budapest. The Biatorbágy facility operated between 1978 and 1996, served by the Budaörs barracks, storing S-125 Nyeva air defense missiles. In case of need, they would have defended Budapest’s airspace from the west.

Here we can linger a bit, as we are now at a place considered historical, and the overgrown bush forest resembling a jungle certainly adds an impact value. The road network is quite dense around the bunkers, so it’s worth carefully adjusting further direction according to the map because from here, practically no orientation point will await us for nearly one kilometer in the field. At a distinct but still unmarked forest intersection, we turn right, then the road descends gently with an increasingly deep cut, with some loess soil character.

Before our path is "swallowed" by the earth, we arrive at the edge of civilization, the recreational area of Biatorbágy named after Nyakas-kő, where magnificent forest pines tower on sandy soil. The characteristic scent cloud resembles the Carpathian pine forests. Immersed pleasantly in the pine atmosphere of Otelló street, we suddenly turn onto a marked path again: from here on, we will follow the P+ marking (to the right).

The essential part of the hike

At a junction, we continue straight on the P marking, and after a right turn, we get closer and closer to the ominously towering monolith of Nyakas-kő. Anyone who has seen at least a postcard of the sandstone towers of the American Monument Valley can imagine something similar here in a scaled-down form. Climbing the stone itself is optional and requires sure steps on a steep, barely half-meter-wide path. For those with vertigo, it’s worth considering, but the view from the top of the rock compensates for the effort. Coming down, however, is better done by a longer but safer detour towards the previously mentioned Nyakaskő dűlő.

Imagining staying in the western part of the United States, we arrive at the crown of our program, the several-hundred-meter-long Madárszirt, which we reach by a short climb (be careful here too, as the surface is very loose). On the rock plateau reminiscent of the Grand Canyon edge, the impact is grandiose even if the depth is not 1500 meters. Here, it is advisable to pay more attention as there are treacherous cracks on the rock edge, offering a good photo theme for jump shots.

Geologically, Madárszirt is the westward steep edge of the Tétény-Sóskúti plateau, relatively young, only 12-15 million years old, formed from Pannonian marine sediments of calcareous sandstone layers. The view from it incorporates the Zsámbék Basin, Vértes, and Gerecse as far as the eye can see.

Enjoying the continuous panorama of Madárszirt, our marking disappears again in the cluster of weekend houses, where we may meet the zealous watchdogs familiar from the start of the day – fortunately, fences have been well built in this southern corner of Biatorbágy, so no worries. After leaving the weekend houses, we enter the forest again. Following the P marking, pay attention to when the path to the Red Chapel branches off to the right, as that will be ours.

One more surprise: the Szily Chapel

The starting point of the Red Chapel marking is a tricky junction that can be passed over in a flash. If noticed in time, we turn right and after a minute, a building appears before us that is seldom matched in domestic forests. The Szily Chapel, a classicist style, circular (rotunda) building rare in its kind, was built by the family in 1833 for their own burial vault.

Back in Biatorbágy

We return on the P marking, then turn right onto the Red Chapel hiking trail to reach the settlement by the shortest route. We soon find ourselves in Biatorbágy’s expanding new district, where, similar to the start of the day, we step on an asphalt strip also used by cars (Iharos street), so be very careful! Passing in front of beautiful properties, we again reach the bridge over the Füzes stream, then at the viaduct, we turn onto the section leading to the railway station. Going around the gas station, we can stop by a pizza oven on the way, where one or two tables offer the opportunity for on-site consumption. Finally, Kossuth Lajos and Karinthy Frigyes streets lead us back quietly to the railway station, where we can ponder the above experiences while waiting for the train or get back in the car.