Hermits, rockets, lookout - the Pilis Peak circuit

Itinerary

• From Pilisszántó, start right on the P trail.
• When you reach the Z marking in the forest, turn left onto it.
• Follow the Z trail up to the top of the switchback, where you turn right at a meadow onto the Z▲ path.
• Reach Pilis Peak.
• Follow the Z▲ trail walking on the concrete plateau.
• At a bend in the asphalt, turn right onto the P+ hiking trail.
• At the foot of the hill, turn right onto the S+ trail, which you follow for a long stretch.
• Return to the forest fork touched upon at the start of the hike, where you turn right on the P trail, thus returning to Pilisszántó.

Detailed description of the hike

From Pilisszántó to the Grófi trail

From the bus terminal, set out on the busy and winding asphalt road on the P trail. Shortly after a sharp right turn, a small "hole" gapes in the dense forest on our left side; this is where we enter among the trees. We gently ascend on a rocky, water-washed path until we reach the hiking trail junction (to which we will return at the end of our hike). From here, we can make a detour to the not very abundant Trézsi spring, or choose the shorter route, the steep Z trail sharply climbing up the hillside.

At the end of a short but tiring climb, we reach an open area revealing the surrounding landscape. This is already the Grófi trail, a completely unique and unforgettable panoramic path on the western side of Pilis Peak. A switchback led on a steep slope, each of its bends offering great views of the Pilisvörösvár basin, the Buda Hills, the longitudinal ridge of the Pilis, the neighboring Visegrád Hills, and even the Gerecse—essentially the entire Dunazug mountain region. There is no similarly spectacular hiking trail near Budapest, no doubt.

Moreover, by domestic standards, the height of the besieged hill is outstanding: at 756 meters, it is the highest peak of the Transdanubian Mountains. The climb is not steep but tiring, especially because of the noticeably warm microclimate of the hillside—thanks to the white limestone rocks and the rocky grasslands that offer no shade. Every bend offers different views; suburban settlements sprawl below us, and we gradually reach an altitude from which we can look down at all the neighboring ranges. Thanks to the winding route, the ascent is less strenuous than the numbers suggest.

The path finally leads to a spacious meadow, where we turn right onto the Z▲ trail. We approach the treeless summit in a forest. The fence is trampled down at one point; this strictly protected area was once the launch point for paragliders and boasted the best panorama of the hill. The edge of the meadow almost drops off towards the reddening roofs of Pilisszentkereszt and Pilisszántó. The altitude and slope are astonishing, and the narrow ridge of the Pilis stretches directly before us.

At the top of Pilis

Just a few steps away, we can already see the lookout tower with wooden cladding sticking out behind the concrete hangars. The building is named after Blessed Özséb, who gathered the hermits of the area to establish the Pauline monk order in the 13th century. (The region is otherwise rich in monastery ruins.)

Looking around, it quickly becomes clear why there was the former air defense missile base here: the airspace north-northwest of Budapest is practically perfectly observable. Behind the forested ridge dotted with houses and hotels at Dobogókő, the massive Börzsöny block appears. Turning toward the city, we naturally can panoramic view the ridge of Pilis, and further south the range of Hármashatár-hegy. Behind the grassy ridge of Nagy-Szénás towers the highest point of the Buda Hills, Nagy-Kopasz, recognizable by its lookout. To the northwest roll the hills of Gerecse, and to the west on clear days are the modest hills of Vértes.

The military installation was built in the early 1980s on this strategically excellent flat mountain plateau. It was not unique in the Dunazug area: two nearby installations were established on Urak Asztala and on the Lom Hill summit. Today all are abandoned. The lookout's design fits well into the surroundings from afar: it looks like a small air traffic control tower hidden among the trees.

About 40 soldiers served continuously at the "secret" base, which also had a developed utility network, but water had to be brought by tanker trucks. A peculiarity of Pilis Peak is that it often becomes enveloped in clouds, which was quite unfortunate for military purposes, as it hindered or made visual observation impossible. However, during descending air currents, one could rise above the clouds: especially on winter days, despite the steel-gray below, the hill bathed in sunshine breaks through the snow-white cloud cover. The base was closed in 1996 and since then nothing significant has happened. The ruin complex—sometimes called the depressing Machu Picchu of Pilis—is a bizarre ruin on the summit increasingly reclaimed by nature thanks to the lookout.

Through the dry gorge of Vaskapu valley

The Z▲ trail following the concrete road is not spectacular but a comfortable promenade on the plateau. With a map or GPS, we can visit the otherwise unmarked path to the rock arch called Vaskapu. From its top, through a small window in the foliage, we see the forests of the Dobogókő massif, then descend along the rocky ridge to the impressive rock arch that closes the formation. Two triumphal arch-shaped holes gape in the formation, remains of a former cave that emerged together with the mountain.

On the asphalt, we are not far from the junction with the P+ trail on the right. Turning there, we descend into the spectacular and deeply incised Vaskapu valley. In the narrow, dark, rocky gorge, huge stones rise and conceal smaller and larger cave openings. The tree trunks are oddly bent: the reason for the "drunken forest" is that the rocky debris soil is very slowly moving, tricking the trees as they grow. In the valley bottom, after heavy rains, flash floods race through; the well-karstified limestone absorbs water.

At the end of the gorge, a resting place (Mária bench) awaits; turning right here onto the S+ trail, we walk in a sunny, bushy hillside. It is an about 20-30 minute monotonous section at the end of which we reach the hiking trail junction already touched at the start of our tour. Occasionally we get views of neighboring hillsides and the Kevély hills also appear in the distance. On the P trail, worn hours earlier by footsteps, a short descent leads us back to the village edge, and behind a bend, we arrive at the bus turnaround.