On Visegrád’s hidden paths

Itinerary

• From the parking lot we follow the K▲ marking to reach the Zsitvay lookout
• From the lookout (outside ski season) we descend on the unmarked ski slope down under Nagy-Villám, to the bottom of the ski slope.
• From the ski slope pump house we start right on the K▲ marking and follow it to the restaurant.
• Before the Mogyoróhegy Restaurant we turn right onto the K◼ marking, which we follow to the wildlife park fence.
• Upon reaching the wildlife park fence we turn left and go around the wildlife park on an unmarked forest path with the fence on our left.
• After Mocsai-farm, from the Dorottya spring we follow the trail KT marking uphill to the sign presenting the gorge forest where we stay.
• From the gorge forest sign we continue straight on the K▲ marking, from which we detour into the Foresters Friendship Park.
• In the Foresters Friendship Park we turn right onto the K↺ marking and walk to the Kis-Villám wildflower trail junction.
• At the junction we turn right on the PT trail, which circles around Kis-Villám, leaving it at the parking lot at the bottom of the ski slope.
• At the Kis-Villám parking lot we walk on the K↺ marking, which we follow to the Görgey-bérc.
• We go around the Görgey ridge on the right branching K⩍ marking.
• From Görgey ridge we follow the K↺ marking uphill to the Nagy-Villám connector road.
• The last meters to the parking lot are completed on the K▲ marking.

Detailed tour description

From Zsitvay lookout to the ski slope

We start our hike from the paid parking lot on top of Nagy-Villám at 378 m, following the K▲ marking, and don't have to walk far to reach our first destination, the Zsitvay lookout. Along the way, if we want to refill our water bottle, there is an opportunity at a blue well here.

The characteristic building of the Zsitvay lookout can be clearly seen from the other side of the Danube. In the summer season, it is open every day except Monday. From the upper level you get a good view of Budapest and its surroundings; the Visegrád Citadel is within arm's reach, and if the weather is clear, you can admire the panorama from Mátra through Pilis to the Zsámbék basin. At its center is the widely undulating Börzsöny mountain, which looks especially high here due to the gradual elevation of the terrain.

The stone lookout, built in 1933 for the twentieth anniversary of the Hungarian Tourist Association, was named after Dr. Tibor Zsitvay, an important figure in the early days of Hungarian nature hiking, who was also a politician, lawyer, Minister of Justice, royal counselor, and president protector of the association.

From the base of the lookout we head towards the ski slope on an unmarked path, which we also descend. The grassy slope is fairly steep but offers a magnificent panorama. Those who find this too steep or cannot strain their knees should take the K▲ marking that bends down from the lookout. This route is also recommended to those who start the tour in winter or snow, as the ski slope is then prohibited. Both routes meet at the pump house at the bottom of the ski slope.

Wandering on Mogyoró Hill

At the bottom of the ski slope, turning right, we follow the K▲ marking towards Mogyoró Hill. Along the way, we pass the Madas László Forestry Forest School, founded in 1988, reportedly the first forest school in Europe. Opposite it stands a special building that looks like a Hobbit house from Lord of the Rings: the Forest Culture House, designed by Imre Makovecz along with other nearby buildings. (One of the Makovecz roads, a route exploring the architect's oeuvre, also runs through here.)

Besides many other architectural peculiarities, the forest school is interesting for its orientation symbolism: the axes of the two main entrances face exactly the rising sun on March 21, at the spring equinox. It is named after László Madas, founder and influential director of the Pilis State Forest Administration, who played an invaluable role in establishing the nature conservation areas around Budapest, the tourist infrastructure of the Pilis and Visegrád Hills, and modern sustainable forest management.

The hiking trail leads out onto an asphalt road, where we turn right on the K◼ marking. We are now at the Mogyoró Hill Excursion Center, established in the 1980s, which includes a nature trail, forest playgrounds, resting places, and a camp site suitable for large camps operating from spring to autumn. More than twenty kilometers of walking and hiking trails await hikers on Mogyoró Hill. One of these is the Mogyoró Hill nature trail, which we join briefly at Mogyoróhegy Restaurant. Circling the restaurant, we turn right on the K◼ marking, then just before the next bend, turning left beside the fence of the wildlife park onto an unmarked forest path.

We bypass the 1.5-hectare Mogyoró Hill Wildlife Demonstration Garden, where if lucky, we can see red deer, fallow deer, and mouflons up close in a forest environment similar to their natural habitat. Turning along the fence of the game park, a long sloping meadow offers picturesque views towards Naszály. Further ahead we reach Mócsa Farm, also designed by Imre Makovecz, shaped like a semi-open farmhouse facing outwards.

After the farm, going straight but turning right off the main path, we take an unmarked path and walk past a campground equipped with rest areas and fire pits to Dorottya spring. Here we are again on the nature trail established in 2002, following the KT marking, where at 10 stations we learn about the local wildlife through informational boards. For example, we get to know the small artificial Nádas pond, which would dry out without water replacement but has valuable wildlife, like the crested newts living in it, making it worthwhile to maintain.

The Dorottya spring water flows into the pond. The same forester named it who also named the nearby Boglárka spring, although the latter's water is drinkable according to a trail information board, while the former's may not be. Here we remain on the K▲ marking (without turning) and at the next junction enter the Foresters Friendship Park, established in 1985 so domestic foresters and forestry education institutions can erect carved memorial poles. From one point in the park, there is a view of the Börzsöny.

On the Kis-Villám trails

For a short section we walk on the K↺ marking (turning right from the junction, backtracking), then take a sharp right at a bench and join the lesser-known route of the Kis-Villám wildflower trail, navigated by the PT marking. The 266 m high Kis-Villám hill nature trail with 14 stations tells stories about the hill and its wildlife. In early spring, spring pheasant’s eye flowers enchant visitors, while in May-June dandelion fluff captivates them, and at one station a fox den can be seen. The narrow path winds through flowering meadows; to the left, you can see Nagy-Villám from below.

We return from Kis-Villám, from a ladder we still overlook the Danube and Fellegvár (Citadel), then by the parking lot start following the K↺ marking again. We cross the asphalt road and take two right turns at the bottom of the ski slope. Walking on a forest path, we reach the Görgey ridge. The elderly general settled in Visegrád on his brother's estate at Szentgyörgypuszta in his final years.

We circle the monument built from boulders on the K⩍ marking and return on K↺. This helps to overcome the steep slope of Nagy-Villám with serpentine wide forest paths, crossing the canopy track higher up, ending before the parking lot. (We cover the last meters on the K▲ marking.)