Hills around Zirc

Itinerary:

• We hike from the main square of Zirc on the K marked trail to Szépalmapuszta.
• We cross the mountain settlement on the S marked path.
• We march on the P◼ marked trail to the junction of the General Forest.
• Turning left onto the P+ trail, we return near Zirc via Pálihálás and Tündérmajor.
• We make a detour to the Atoning Cross on the purple ᵯ sign of the Mary Road.
• We walk back to Zirc on the P+ trail.

About the hike in detail:

The capital of Bakony

The starting point of our hike is Rákóczi Square in Zirc. In the park-like main square stands a unique statue: the 0-kilometer stone for Bakony hikers. The stone boot on the small column has marked the starting point of hiking trails starting in Zirc since 1938.

The town's most important landmark is the Cistercian abbey complex located on the eastern side of the square. The monastery, founded at the end of the 12th century, after flourishing for several centuries, was destroyed during the Turkish era, just like the whole settlement. The resettlement in the 18th century was done with Germans, who built the church and part of the monastery that can be seen today. The large building houses the Bakony Natural Science Museum and the Antal Reguly Monument Library. On Rákóczi Square is also the birthplace of linguist and ethnographer Reguly, which is now a museum and folk art creators' house; also worth visiting. Behind the abbey, along the Cuha Stream, visitors can explore the Zirc Arboretum. Founded by friends, the 18-hectare garden is internationally known; many specialties can be seen among nearly 600 species of trees and shrubs while admiring a waterfall and a pavilion.

In the 2010s, a significant development and renovation project took place around the abbey and the main square. As a result, Zirc's attractiveness and its role in Bakony tourism further increased. The settlement rightfully is called the capital of Bakony.

Through the park forest to Borzavár

We leave Zirc's main square on the K marked trail along Deák Ferenc Street. We walk along the edge of the settlement on the Borzavár paved road until we reach the wooden gate marking the beginning of the Pintér Hill park forest. In the organized area, resting places, a playground, and a gym field have been established alongside a 17-station nature trail, offering geological, forestry, botanical, and zoological presentation spots. Climbing stairs, we reach a beautiful, shaded beech forest mixed with oak and hornbeam. A sign at a junction points to the direction of the abandoned marble quarry yard of Zirc. From here, we can make a short detour to the Rejuvenation Spring, where, if we are not younger, the fresh, cold spring water refreshingly quenches our thirst. After a breezy, sunny young forest area, we enter the dense forest again and cross the western side of Pintér Hill. Occasionally, we walk under pine trees and descend along the water erosion of Pintér Ditch.

Already on a grassy-shrubby path, Borzavár houses appear in front of us. Continuing towards the main road, we see traditional craft relics when passing the buried remains of disused lime kilns. Lime and charcoal burning was an ancient occupation at the karst border of Bakony's villages; kilns and charcoal piles did not go out from spring to autumn. We pass by an old manor building and walk through Borzavár's main street, a charming settlement. We pass a café and a grocery store on the apple-tree lined road, and traditional style houses can also be seen. We turn off the main road near the church and ascend a trail leaving the village buildings, soon reaching the flat top of Church Hill on a narrow paved road. The gentle elevation was mined in the past for rose-colored Borzavár limestone, which decorates buildings in several nearby settlements.

Towards Szépalmapuszta

We arrive at a comfortably walkable grassy-shrub plateau, from where the landscape opens up. Looking back, the church tower rises above the shrubs, and in our direction the ridge of Kőris Hill stretches, identifiable by the large locator globe at its highest point. Walking pleasantly beside fields and meadows, we cross power lines and turn onto the paved road to Szépalmapuszta at the base of the concrete posts. Between fenced pastures and the edge of the dense Jewish Forest, we meander along an idyllic route with a view south to the Papod peak. At one point, the marked path enters an oak forest, briefly returning to asphalt. With a left turn, we enter the old avenue leading to Szépalmapuszta, where we also switch to the S trail. We stroll through well-maintained areas, past paddocks and stables toward the center of the historic manor. The S trail we are on is a notable route in Bakony, called the Dornyay Béla memorial path, covering 51 km from Porva-Csesznek railway station to Herend. It is named after the famous teacher and researcher who, among other works, wrote several tour and guidebooks, including about Bakony and Balaton Uplands. These interwar works remain popular.

Since Árpád times, the Esterházy family established a stud farm on the mountain settlement cultivated since then in the 18th century, then a later owner founded an arboretum at the beginning of the 20th century. In the 1990s, a foreign owner bought Szépalmapuszta, renovating the dilapidated buildings and their surroundings. Today a hotel and restaurant also operate on the stud farm, alongside horses they keep cattle; the land use is exemplary.

We bypass a barrier, then leaving the asphalt to the right, we can visit the arboretum trails. In the protected wooded park, we walk among exotic species, with prominent pine and cedar stands. Along the peaceful promenades, we can rest on benches or climb a lookout tower to see the treetops from above, as well as view the old count’s cemetery. At the signpost beside the hotel building, we turn onto the P◼ trail, then pass a small pond edged with willows. We also pass some farm and residential buildings, finally bidding farewell to Szépalmapuszta with a view of Kőris Hill’s massif near the football field.

Pasture and Giant Sequoia

Leaving the outermost pastures, we enter nature again in a grassy clearing among Turkey oak woods occupying the western part of Hajmás Hill in the General Forest. Soon a P+ sign appears on a hunting stand, diverting left to another pasture, through which a pleasant path leads us to the saddle between Hajmás and Kis-Som Hill. Above a low regrowth after a previous large clearcut, we have a view of our further route, the valley leading to Pálihálás. The old term “pasture” referred to a young forest grown after wood harvesting; later, such forest parts were also called forbidden or banned, indicating a protected area for the time being. Our relatively flat route now turns to a descent as we sink into the Szilas Ditch’s scrubby hillside, continuing on a gravel supply road. Old oaks and tall pines appear alongside our wide path while the slope of Kis-Holomány Peak shows sparse regrowth after clearcutting. After a short climb, we look out over the meadows above Pálihálás. At the next bend of the road, a wide riparian pasture (map: I. clearing) branches left. Although the tourist trail leads continuing on the gravel road, it is worth turning off here as we can see a large giant sequoia up close. The giant towers above the surrounding deciduous forest and is easily noticed at the boundary of the grassy belt. Its planting is linked to Szépalmapuszta.

Pálihálás and Tündérmajor

At the bottom of the clearing, we step onto asphalt, turning left into the area of Páliháláspuszta (Pálihálás), belonging to the community of Porva. The small puszta’s name refers to livestock keeping. The old geographic common name combining the personal name Pál with hálás (literally thankful) refers to the herdsman’s hut and the adjoining shelter—the livestock’s night quarters. Turning beside the waterworks’ fence, we reach the settlement area of only about a dozen houses in a few minutes. For almost the next one and a half kilometers, we wear down our footwear on the edge of the paved road, still following the direction of the P+ marks. The Csárda Valley Stream road leads through a wide valley of the watercourse, between pastures and arable fields on both sides. We take a sharp turn bypassing the rise of Kis-Borzavár Hill, then after a patch of spruce forest parallel to the road, we turn right off the asphalt.

Changing to a climb, we ascend through the beautiful beech forest of Kő-kúti Woods to the fields of Tündérmajor. Leaving the forest, we pass the small airfield with its grass runway, then passing a small lake, we enter the small settlement belonging to Zirc. Tündérmajor has been inhabited since ancient times, as evidenced by Bronze Age finds here; the manor was founded in the 18th century as an Esterházy estate. The noble castle and farm buildings still stand, as do the former servant’s quarters in renovated form. After the chapel adorned with a pointed bell tower, we walk on the paved main road, then after the Mary shrine, we turn right, following the trail marker onto a dirt road. We leave the nicely renovated former distillery building and continue hiking past the corner of an old farm building, among pastures and fields. The prominent metal globe of the Hydroglobus navigates from the side of Csengő Hill into a forest patch where another crafted shrine hides among the trees.

Back to Zirc

We begin descending on open, grassy-shrubby terrain on the hillside above Zirc. On the right, on the ᵯ sign of the Mary Road, a one-minute detour leads to the cross atop the hill. From the base of the small stone pile, the atoning cross erected in 2009, there is a good view of the Zirc Basin and surroundings. In front of us, the abbey complex and the houses of Zirc stand in the center; beyond the fields, Nagyesztergár is visible. The horizon is closed by the ridge of Vértes and the edge of the Tési Plateau. To the right, the buildings of Olaszfalu, further the Ámos Hill near Eplény rises. To the left, the forested side of Pintér Hill rises. Returning to the P+ trail, we soon reach the outskirts of Zirc. From here, we follow the small town’s streets winding back to Rákóczi Square.