Gorge triple around Csesznek

Itinerary

• We leave the village from the Csesznek parking lot on the P trail; this leads to the entrance of the Ördög-árok and continues along it.
• From the end of the Ördög-árok, we continue right on the Z trail, which leads back to Csesznek through the Kő-árok.
• When the Vár street turns downhill, we keep left onto the P+ trail.
• At the bottom of the slope we turn left onto the Z⩍ trail, which guides us through the Kőmosó gorge.
• When the trail ends under the Kecske-lik at the end of the gorge, we have to go straight on an unmarked path to return to the start of the route and join the P trail.

Detailed description of the route

Csesznek and the earthquake

The Csesznek landscape reminiscent of the proud castles of the Carpathian limestone formations originates from the route of the salt road leading from the Alföld to Győr: the robust castle, which may have been built in the 13th century for its control, has a romantic appearance resulting from the fusion of the rock and walls. It was an important fortress and accordingly changed owners many times over the centuries. The village's name may derive from the Slavic word cestnik, meaning officer, as for a long time most of the castle’s population lived outside the fortress. In 1810, an estimated 5.4 magnitude earthquake on the Richter scale centered near Mór cracked the stone walls of the Csesznek fortress. Shortly after, the building was struck by lightning, marking the end of its military career—the partly reconstructed castle ruin today is very inviting visually, but during the first part of our route, we will see it getting smaller as we move away from it.

We leave the village on the P trail. Immediately after the asphalt section, we reach a pasture protected by an electric fence: it is advisable to detour along the unmarked path next to the fence, rejoining the trail within a few meters. From a dirt road, we can still look back at the castle walls and the forested slopes forming their backdrop, then leave the fields and step into the trees. We wander through disturbed forest with varied stands. Be attentive as it is easy to stray from the marked hiking trail among the traces of logging tracks! The P trail remains at the foot of the hills but regularly forces ascents as it skirts ditches. In places, young dense thickets growing on clearing patches make the terrain opaque; finally, at the third valley, we reach the gate of the Ördög-árok.

Ördög-árok

The forest road ends, and we continue our hike on a path—initially only the dense, unusually well-closing forest and the broken trunks of fallen trees lying across mark the change in the landscape. Then the stream bed appears, with limestone debris scattered by the spring swell aiding our crossing on the ford. The two slopes become increasingly steep, and the stream bed completely fills the valley floor in places—the path leads in the mountainside and sometimes we have to fight our way through particularly slippery sections. Soon massive cliffs lean over the stream, their bases increasingly compressed by the water, with unsupported masses falling off in large chunks.

Mossy rolling stones and the roughly smooth surface of limestone slabs line the increasingly rocky streambed, which also forces the hiking trail onto it. For most of the year, so little water flows here that it doesn’t cause difficulty. The wild valley’s gorge character culminates when the stream is enclosed on both sides by rock walls, with fallen car-sized boulders lying in the stream’s path. Fallen tree trunks lie across fiercely, but the highlight of the gorge comes a little further, about halfway along.

Between two huge rock pinnacles lies a giant boulder forming a lake at its base in a deep pool carved by swirling water. Among crumbling limestone walls, fallen rock giants reveal episodes of the landscape's shaping. From the wild basin, a staircase on the right leads out to the hiking trail, bypassing the dam and passing behind the waterfall obstacle. Braver hikers can choose the “mini via ferrata” built on the left side, equipped with wire ropes and trays. This requires confident footing and assured movement; progress is not as simple as it might first seem. In return, from the top of the Ördög dike, we can admire the small rocky basin.

Above the Ördög dike

The water flowing in limestone carves gorges slowly over millions of years, but it also erodes the limestone by dissolving it with carbonic acid, forming cavities and caves inside. Several dozen of these are found in the side of the Ördög-árok (during World War II, several hundred people hid in the local caves for short periods to escape deportation). Crossing to the far side of the Ördög dike, the rocks disappear. After a bend, we walk a narrow valley, though the route remains undoubtedly spectacular. Soon, again, a bed of angular moss covers the bed, and another collapsed rocky narrow pass blocks our path. Here too, the stream collects into a pond; it is not easy to find a way and scramble over the obstacle, especially as the stones piled on each other form a technical challenge.

After the gorge, we finally say goodbye to the wild scenery and arrive on a pleasant valley trail at the end of the Ördög-árok depression, where lime-burning ovens smoked in the past, and today a clear-cut patch greets us. We turn right and set off back to Csesznek on the Z trail. With moderate ascent and heavily used forest, we wind through, cutting across the power line corridor to the rest area opening the Kő-árok.

The Kő-árok

Descending into the Kő-árok, we immediately notice that this time we are not in a true gorge valley, as no rock walls or closed basins exist. The word 'árok' (ditch) perfectly describes the landscape characteristics: a deep, sometimes sharply winding, dark valley surrounded by steep slopes appears before us. The path follows the stream with a charming line, although at one point the valley bottom narrows gorge-like, forcing us to descend into the streambed. Eventually, the ditch bottom widens, and we cross a densely vegetated corridor. To the right, a rugged rock wall whitens amid the green curtain of foliage; from here, in a few minutes, we emerge onto the Csesznek country road.

Be careful on the winding asphalt, as arriving cars only see short sections! We cross a stream almost unnoticed, and the massive ruin appears on the left. The forested hillsides falling on the fields and the shining castle walls on the top together offer the best view of the Bakony landscape. From this angle, the karst shrub forest just hides the bare walls of the small limestone crag that determines the last section of our route. Walking back to the village, we still follow the Z trail, which skirts the castle from below. When the street turns right downhill, we turn left onto the P+ hiking trail.

The Kőmosó gorge

From a picturesque cart road, we step onto the path; suddenly, under the trees, we see tilting carved stone tablets. In Csesznek, a small Jewish colony once lived, and we are walking through their abandoned cemetery. We start a steep descent; at one point, the Z⩍ trail branches off to the left. We turn onto it to tackle the last, possibly most scenic stage of our hike. We pass a rock block and step onto an exposed ledge. To the right, a stream glitters several meters below; opposite, impressive rock walls rise. The water flows rattling down between them and where it reaches the bottom, its constant swirling and sediment erosion creates vertically tiered cascades. The harsh rocky world is gently softened by numerous rock crosses covered by green leaf curtains. The natural pools were formerly used for bathing, but today's water flow is no longer sufficient. At the aptly named beginning of the Kőmosó gorge, wire ropes stretch along the path, and a closer look at the walls reveals even more. These are the country's first via ferratas, iron climbing routes that cover the sharply protruding limestone ridge and the bare cliffs of the gorge.

We descend beside the deeply sawed stream, where gigantic limestone walls almost weigh us down. At the surprisingly short but all the more memorable end of the gorge path, a resting place stands; we can visit the small cavity of Kecske-lik on the right. Although the hiking trail ends here, we go straight ahead on the unmarked path! With a few minutes of ascent, we return to the Csesznek country road, where only a few meters remain to the start and end point of the route, the parking lot on the P trail.