Ördög-árok gorge

Itinerary

• The route starts from Bakonyoszlop on the P+ trail, which we follow to the forest junction of the P trail.
• We turn left onto the P trail, which leads all along the gorge.
• We do not leave the P trail and walk along it to Dudar.

Detailed description of the hike

Bakonyoszlop

At the start, it is worth taking a closer look at Bakonyoszlop's beautifully renovated and pleasant-looking church, under which is the crypt of the Esterházy family, who once owned the settlement. (Their castle stands at the western end of the main street, now a children’s home.) For centuries, the forest provided work for the population (charcoal burning, ash fat burning, quarrying), and in the second half of the 20th century, the neighboring Dudar and the village’s own coal mine attracted labor (the latter operated until 2017). We can also find the country's last deep mine here, whose extracted bauxite was formerly used by the Ajka alumina plant; since its closure, export keeps the mining alive.

We climb up the street behind the church to the cemetery, where the P+ trail turns right onto a dirt road. Looking sideways from the rural road crossing the fields, the massive walls of Csesznek Castle wave from afar, then with a slight descent, we enter the forest. We approach the Ördög-árok gorge with a sharp left turn on the P trail.

Lower section of the Ördög-árok

The forest road disappears, and we continue our hike on a path – initially focusing on the dense, unusually well-closing forest and the trunks of trees broken at waist height lying across. Then the riverbed appears as well; the limestone debris scattered by the spring floods will help us cross the stream by stepping stones. The two slopes become steeper, and the stream bed sometimes completely fills the valley floor – on the mountainside path we often have to fight our way through particularly slippery meters. Soon, huge rock walls lean over the stream; their bases are pushed back by the water, and the unsupported mass falls in large chunks.

Mossy stone heaps and the roughly smooth-surfaced limestone slabs line the increasingly stony stream bed, into which the hiking trail is also forced. For most of the year, only a trickle of water flows here, not enough to cause difficulties. The wild valley’s gorge character culminates when the stream is surrounded on both sides by cliffs, among which fallen, car-sized boulders lie in the water's path. Fallen tree trunks lying across intensify the scene, but the highlight of the gorge comes a bit further up, about halfway.

Between two huge rocky peaks, a giant boulder is wedged, forming a lake at its base in the whirlpool deepened by water. Among the crumbling limestone walls, fallen giant rocks flash the episodes of the landscape’s shaping. From the wild basin, the hiking trail leads right on the staircase renovated in 2021, circling the blockage to pass above the waterfall and behind the obstacle. The more daring can choose the “mini-ferrata” built on the left side, secured with wire ropes and trays. This requires great sure-footedness and confident movement; progressing is not as easy as it first seems. In return, we can admire the small rocky basin from the top of the Ördög-gát dam.

Beyond the Ördög-gát dam

The water course cutting through the limestone slowly forms gorges over millions of years; however, its work is not only about abrasion: with its carbonic acid content it dissolves the rock, forming cavities and caves inside. There are several dozens of these in the side of the Ördög-árok gorge (during World War II, more than a hundred people hid in the caves in the area temporarily to avoid deportation). Crossing to the other side of the Ördög-gát dam, the rocks disappear, and after a bend, we tread a narrow valley, although the route remains clearly scenic. Soon again, a carpet of angular moss fills the bed, another collapsed rocky narrowing blocks our way. The stream here also collects into small pools; crossing the blockage is not easy, and in addition, the stones lying on top of each other form a technical obstacle.

After the narrow gorge, we finally say goodbye to the wild scenery and arrive on a pleasant valley path at the end of the Ördög-árok, where lime kilns used to smoke, and today a clear-cut area welcomes us.

Arrival at Dudar

Our trail leaves the muddy stream bed and climbs slightly to the left through a middle-aged forest to the wide back. Emerging from among the trees, we follow the edge of a spacious arable field; opposite appear the houses of our target settlement - their gradually growing silhouette signals the distance decreasing. We end the hike on the outskirts of Dudar. The former serf village changed greatly from the mid-20th century with the opening of the coal mine. It gained a railway connection from Zirc, its population grew, and industry developed (car parts were manufactured in one of its plants). However, the regime change, like in other regions, also signaled the end of socialist industry here: the uneconomical mining ceased, and the railway no longer operates.