Hiking to the Úrkút Paleokarst

Itinerary:

• In Városlőd, follow the K mark on Kossuth Lajos Street until the first left junction.
• Here, turn left onto the Gyöngyök útja yellow mark, which joins the S mark across the tracks.
• Continue on the S mark turning left through the Calvary.
• At the hilltop, continue left on the S+ mark.
• From the eastern side of Kakastara, descend along the P+ mark to the edge of Úrkút.
• At the village boundary, turn left onto the National Blue Trail K mark, where we make a small detour to the Csárda Hill paleokarst.
• We explore the paleokarst excavation along the Csárda Hill educational trail marked KT.
• On the K mark, we hike north through the Csollányos valley to the Sobri Jóska Adventure Park.
• Before the adventure park, turn left onto the KT mark, which leads to the bus stop located at the far side of the parking lot.

Detailed tour description:

Városlőd

The area around Városlőd was inhabited even before the Hungarian conquest; the predecessor of the current settlement formed in the Árpád era, thriving thanks to its favorable location in the pass of the Veszprém-Devecser trench crossing the Bakony mountains from east to west. To protect this important transportation corridor, Hölgykő Castle was built on the heights above the village in the 13th century. The fortress had a significant administrative role for some time, as it was the seat of the Bakony forest ispánship alongside Csesznek.

King Louis the Great, known as a supporter of monastic orders, invited Carthusian monks here, granting them the village and castle as donations. The stones from the castle were used to build their monastery, demolishing and thus abolishing the small abandoned fortress. Thanks to the ready materials, one of the largest monasteries of the order was constructed at the site of the current Catholic church. Its significance is shown by the fact that King Matthias and his entourage visited here, and at the end of the 15th century, a prolific bookbinding and miniature workshop operated within the walls. We currently know of 12 incunabula produced in what was known in the Middle Ages as the Lővöld Carthusian monastery. The flourishing sacred center was destroyed along with the settlement during the Turkish era. In the 18th century, Swabians repopulated the area, and thanks to them, the settlement's recognizable appearance remains to this day. Although most were relocated after World War II, a third of the population still identifies as German today. One can learn about the local history and ethnography in the German minority storied folk house.

We follow the K mark on Kossuth Lajos Street, then at the first junction turn left to the Gyöngyök útja S mark. This crosses the railway tracks, where we head south along Petőfi Street. Upon reaching the forest edge, a flight of stairs leads between trees to the left. Turning onto the left branch of the S mark, we head towards the Calvary. Climbing the steps, we arrive at a cozy clearing surrounded by old trees where whitewashed stations greet us, ending with a chapel at the clearing's end. Városlőd’s carefully maintained Calvary was consecrated in 1860. It is worth closer inspection, as each of the artisan station niches is looked after by a local family. Passing the Way of the Cross, we leave behind the long horned meadow beyond the chapel.

From meadows to forest

We start ascending the village on a loess-embedded dirt road. The characteristic yellow sedimentary rock was deposited during the Pleistocene glaciations in areas of the Carpathian Basin. The landscape opens into meadows loosely planted with fruit trees, which border the settlement as a consequence of the characteristic animal husbandry in the area. The long grassy area provides a view of the center of Városlőd, the opposite hills, and gradually reveals the more distant ranges of the Bakony. Easy to identify is the Kőris Mountain massif, 19 km away, with its white locator dome at the summit, while the Kis-Bükk peak can be distinguished by the lookout tower rising above the trees. Between them is the Hajag group, blocking the horizon. We gain a somewhat wider perspective of the landscape if we climb one of the high stands along our route.

After passing Üveg Hill, turn left onto the S+ mark, then continue along the forest management road on the ridge. Wandering across an open humpback section reminiscent of the higher Carpathian alpine meadows, our next destination soon appears ahead: the forested ridge of Kakastara at 528 meters high, where the open terrain ends. Entering the woods, the environment suddenly narrows, and under the overlapping branch canopy, we climb our biggest ascent (about 70 meters) to the summit. The top offers a good view of the highest block of the Southern Bakony, the 599-meter-high Kab Hill. The peak, which features a television and radio tower, is also geologically special, as a basalt mantle formed 5–6 million years ago from volcanic activity has covered the Middle Jurassic limestone and dolomite.

To the edge of Úrkút

We continue on a wide cart road along the eastern side of Kakastara, where at the crossroads we turn right onto the P+ mark. The surroundings are characterized by a diverse and strongly mixed forest. Numerous small forest sections have been planted with different tree species, so in many places, you can see beech, hornbeam, service tree, ash, and oak specimens growing side by side – and sometimes even pine. This diversity and the relatively young forest appearance accompany us along the entire section of our hike.

Descending the side of Kis-Üsti Hill, we step onto the transport road from Szentgál to Kislőd. We only travel about one and a half kilometers here, but in the second half of the hike, we will be on this road again in the Csollányos valley. At a sharp bend, we leave the wide gravel road, cross a long clearing, then a mixed forest, arriving at the border of Úrkút. The surroundings open up as we arrive among the fenced pastures of Csalánostanya. Until the mid-20th century, around 300 farms operated in the area, but now only a few remain as remnants. The sight of straw bales, grazing horses, and the windmill tower built at the entrance gives a Wild West atmosphere. We see the wooded side of Csárda Hill, whose far side is our next destination. Passing under a power line, we turn onto the road circling the hill and, turning left next to the Úrkúti agricultural farm, switch to the K mark.

Tropical paleokarst

A few minutes’ walk from here past the houses of Úrkút, we arrive at the gate of the Csárda Hill paleokarst. This area, originally used as a manganese mine, boasts unique geological values and is under nature protection. It is rightly so, as the Jura limestone here reveals shapes uncovered by miners working carefully by hand, which formed more than 100 million years ago.

In the early 20th century, coal was searched for here, hoping for luck similar to the nearby Ajka deposits, but the more valuable manganese ore was found instead. During the Middle Jurassic, tropical conditions produced clay that filled and covered the depressions of the ancient karst forms for millions of years until mining exposed the formations at the surface. Fortunately, in 1951 the area was placed under protection, preserving this rare geological treasure containing manganese ore.

A wooden staircase descends among reddish and pink bizarre, tooth-shaped rock towers and edges to the bottom of a spacious depression 20–30 meters below the original surface, where pleasantly cool air collects even in summer heat. After closely examining the paleokarst shapes and fossils below, it’s worth walking around the upper edge on the KT mark, where informational signs provide much detail about the place.

After exploring this nationally significant nature conservation area, we can rest in Úrkút and even replenish from the local shops and catering units or admire the decorative fountain after which the village is named. According to tradition, members of the Zichy family who owned the area in the 18th century and their guests often visited the good water well in this karst area poor in water during their hunts – called the Lords’ Well. The village, founded as a glassworks then, carried forward the name.

Heading to the Csollányos valley

From the paleokarst, we return on the K mark to the agricultural cooperative and bid farewell to the village with the sight of grazing cattle. Passing the high-voltage power pole, we enter the forest again and cross a clearing bordered by beautiful beech legacy trees. On the edge is a sign pointing to the Water Seekers’ Trail, a thematic route connecting the region’s lakes, sinkholes, springs, and streams into one hike. We begin descending and soon upon arriving at another meadow, notice the benches at the Güszi resting place where we can sit. Nearby, we can see the Red Rock formation of similar color to the paleokarst rocks seen earlier. We continue along the wide gravel road from Szentgál to Kislőd, walking past the fresh meadows of Csollányos valley.

The valley, 3 km long and named after the folk name for nettle, once had a narrow-gauge railway until the early 20th century, used for transporting forest products and mountain treasures. From the winding road between densely forested slopes, turning left in one place, we can visit the abandoned open-pit bauxite mine of Kecske Hill. At the calm and comfortably walkable valley's end, buildings and fenced grazing land indicate arrival at Kislőd’s border. Next to the former mining site, we find buildings of the Sobri Jóska Adventure Park named after the Bakony outlaw, where we can try fun and adventure games and courses. Before the adventure park, we turn left onto the KT mark leading to the bus stop at the far end of the parking lot.