On green paths in the heart of Zselic

Itinerary

• From the Zselickisfalud bus stop to the Vándor key house standing at the edge of the village, follow the Z◼ sign.
• At the Vándor key house, we find the Z▲ sign, which we follow to Visnyeszéplak.
• From Visnyeszéplak to Kardosfa, we walk on the Z sign (turn left at the junction).
• At Kardosfa, we change signs and follow the Z◼ signs to the left to return to the starting point.

Detailed description of the route

We start our circular route from the bus stop of the secluded village of Zselickisfalud on the Z◼ square sign. While walking along the Main Street, we meet the K sign coming from Kardosfa, which we will return on at the end of the tour. From the Vándor key house, we leave the settlement southward on the Z▲ sign. (The key tourist house was built at the turn of the century and had a rather eventful history: it functioned as a forester's house, then between the two world wars, it operated as a notorious, feared gendarmerie station and jail. Later it worked as a cinema, youth club, and museum warehouse, and finally was bought by nature lovers from Kaposvár in 1985, who prepared it for its present active role with 3 years of volunteer work.)

Leaving Zselickisfalud behind us, a beautiful view opens to Szilvásszentmárton and the fish pond spread out in the valley to the right. We cross the bridge of the Szentmártoni-árok creek and walk along beautiful meadows and fields until our sign directs us to the right. Next to a fence, we climb up to the opposite wooded strip, where we have to pass through a gate and then enter among the trees.

Soon we exit the beautiful forest, pass by a hunting stand, and on a shrubby, barely trodden path, we aim for the hillside, where at the edge of the forest we find the sign again. We walk on a wild forest trail which soon leads to a wide carriage road where we continue left. The signs lead us to the left after two hundred meters onto a narrower path, thus reaching the Hindai-bérc geological tower where we can catch our breath. For the view, the braver ones can climb up to the concrete tower's lookout level. From above, the typical Zselic landscape rewards the courage: wide hills and countless valleys alternate, at the bottom of which sit villages preserving their isolation. We don't always even notice the houses, but in winter the smoke shroud is conspicuous.

Moving on, the path directs us back to the wide carriage track, so we arrive at the forestry road where we turn right to continue, then after eight hundred meters leave it to the left. Here a sign shows the direction and distances. On the rocky carriage road, we reach the Pal cemetery at Kisdennapuszta within a few words.

After the suppression of the 1848 revolution, many persecuted people hid in the Zselic wilderness. Mostly deserters and conscripts unwilling to join the Austrian army formed the Somogy outlaws. One of them was Pál Mészáros, whose outlaw name was Nagy Pali. He was active from the 1850s until 1861 when his band was captured, and he himself was shot dead in a shootout in the Visnyeszéplak (Vitorági) forest. He was buried here, and this place has since been called the “Pali cemetery.” His memory is preserved by this burial mound. The inscription on the cross reads: “The county soldier who walked many footsteps, here lies Nagy Pál, the famous outlaw.”

At the junction, we meet the Z sign coming from the Dennai forest, on which we turn left to continue. After 400 meters of walking, we arrive at Visnyeszéplak, where we can take a longer rest under a rain shelter and walk to the nearby wooden bell tower. Until the 1980s, no paved road led to this isolated village, so it's no wonder it became depopulated. However, in the 1990s young residents began to settle in this pleasant settlement in a natural environment where life now exists again, children can study locally, and thanks to the community’s eco-agricultural efforts, many needs are satisfied with locally produced food.

From the “center” of Visnyeszéplak, we continue on the wide road leading left, walking about two kilometers among scattered houses. From here, peeking into the distance, we can glimpse the western ranges of the Mecsek – the broad back of Jakab Hill and the Misina tower appear. Leaving the village’s houses behind, we watch because the road bends gently left. Soon the Z sign guides us left, northward, and we walk the wild path of the Vitorági forest while watching the kilometers pass. On the left-bending path, we soon start descending, inching along beside a fence to the valley where the former houses of Vitorágpuszta probably stood. Like many other Zselic villages, this was deserted not due to external pressure but because of its isolation and labor shortage inherent to the fragmented settlement structure.

We cross the Keleti-Gyöngyös stream on a wooden bridge and find ourselves in a very beautiful meadow within minutes. We walk a few hundred meters along the forest strip on the right, then at the end of the hayfield turn left leading to the forestry road. We head north and at the next turn enter left into the long meadow of the Márcadó-árok. Here, do not be surprised if deer, roe deer, or even mouflons come into view; this quiet, peaceful part of Zselic is considered a paradise for big game.

After two kilometers – at the end of the meadow – the road turns left, we cross a bridge, then turn right after two hundred meters, and almost unnoticed, we pass near once peacefully hidden Márcadópuszta in the forest. Márcadó – a royal estate providing honey-mead – stood here as early as the Árpád era. Later, it became known for pig farming, and acorn feeders markedly reduced the previously undisturbed forest area. From the depopulated village, only a few brick remains and the tombstones of the abandoned cemetery can be found in the bushes.

We walk embraced by beautiful forests and charming meadows and then continuously climb on a wide dirt road between chestnut tree rows until we reach the forestry road again, where we turn right, arriving after one kilometer at the magnificent Hotel Kardos in Kardospuszta. Here, we can take a longer break or walk to the Zselic Star Park – this is 1.5 km round trip. Kardospuszta was the site of the first hunting lodge of the hills (today's hotel), but its history is believed to date back to King Saint Ladislaus, who donated it to the Pannonhalma Abbey as a swineherd village. Then in the second half of the 20th century, it suffered the fate of Zselic: its residents left, newcomers did not come, and it has now become a tourist attraction.

We continue north along the paved road in the company of the K and Z◼ square signs. After one kilometer, we turn left into the forest again, where we soon read the plaque of the Millennium Memorial Linden. In 1896, 400 saplings were “laid out” to form the year number, which, of course, no longer survives, as the forest has changed, older trees have died, and many new ones have grown from the ground.

Walking along forests, fields, and groves, the first wine cellars appear, indicating that we are no longer far from our destination, on the border of Zselickisfalud. We descend to the small settlement on a very steep, long loess hollow road, where we come out next to the Vándor key house. From here, all we have to do is walk back along the village’s main street to the bus stop.