Over the Kalapos-kövek to Írott-kő

Itinerary

• We start northwards on Rákóczi street; the K trail soon joins.
• On the P▲ trail, we take a short detour to the Széles-kő rock fracture.
• After Kalapos-kő, we reach the junction of the KΩ trail leading to the Holler cave.
• We return to the K trail.
• In the upper section of the Sötét Valley, after a large S curve, the path turns left to the K▲, then to the K● trail branching off to the right.
• After the springs, we return to the K trail, and follow it to Írott-kő.
• From the lookout, we head back southeast on the P trail, which accompanies us for a long stretch.
• After a barrier, we reach a gravel excavation road and turn right on the ALPANNONIA S trail.
• Shortly after the waterworks fence, we arrive at the junction with the K+ trail.
• From here, a few minutes on the K trail running along the border of Bozsok, which we follow straight towards the bus stop.

About the hike in detail

Bozsok

The small border village area has been inhabited since the Stone Age based on archaeological finds; lightning remains have also been uncovered on its edge. One branch of the water conduit supplying Savaria started from the valley above, probably protected by a castrum located where the Sibrik castle stands. Its first written mention under the name Villa Bosuk dates back to 1279, when it still belonged to the fortress of Saint Vid. It was completely destroyed during the Turkish invasion and then repopulated by Croatian settlers, who by the end of the 19th century had fully assimilated.

After several later noble families, the village was granted in 1538 as a royal donation to György Sibrik. In 1552, Gergely Sibrik divided the Bozsok property into two parts. The northern part went to the elder Osvát's son, while the younger Máté received the southern part. The Sibrik castle standing on the northern estate is first mentioned in 1554 as a noble manor house, which was converted into a fortress castle in 1614 due to the threat of the Turks, and gained its present form in 1815. The family sold it in 1906 to Gyula Végh, later director of the Museum of Applied Arts. The castle park’s current appearance is mainly thanks to his wife, Countess Mária Wimpffen.

The Alsó Castle, known since 1551, was purchased in 1616 by the Batthyány family in a dilapidated state, and they built in its place a two-storey, four-corner-towered, characteristic 17th-century noble hunting castle surrounded by a moat. The Batthyány Castle hosted several distinguished guests, such as Francis II Rákóczi, Antal Esterházy kuruc general, or Emperor Francis I. In 1841, the building caught fire due to lightning; the Batthyány family sold it in 1860.

Up to Széles-kő

The Saint Joseph Chapel behind the bus stop was formed from a one-nave church built in 1775. Its furnishings include a rococo main altar and a repainted altarpiece. It was restored in 1970 and partly converted into a bishop's summer residence. No regular masses have been held there since 1988.

We head north on Rákóczi street and soon reach the K trail. We pass the Bozsok Wine Cellar at number 133, which dates back to 1819. Inside, you can learn about viticulture and wine processing tools from the Kőszeghegyalja region and the Kőszeg-Vashegy wine varieties. A folk craft fair is also held in its courtyard during the Bozsok harvest.

After the heroic monument, we leave the medieval origin Saint Anna parish church, consecrated in 1630, then turn left and continue on the K trail. We leave the village along a hollow road, pass through the dry oak forest of Végh-forest, and reach a wide, steep dirt road, at the end of which a small path leads on to the intersection of the K and P▲ trails.

Walk among the unusual rocks and caves

On the P▲ trail it is worth taking a short detour straight ahead to the 40 m long, 6-9 m high rock fracture of Széles-kő on the right side of the road, which contains three smaller caves. The Ammunition Cave was named because cave explorers found at its entrance a 5-cartridge magazine belonging to a Mannlicher 86 or Mannlicher 88/90 carbine used in the Austro-Hungarian army during World War I, a 7.9 mm cartridge for the German Mauser Gewehr 89 from World War II, and a bullet from a 7.62 mm caliber Mosin-Nagant carbine used by the Soviets. How these got into the cave remains unknown.

We return to the K trail and soon reach the most famous rock formations of the mountain range, the Kalapos-kövek. Their exciting shapes show different views from every side, so it's worth walking around them.

The rocks here formed in the Lower Cretaceous period about 130-140 million years ago under the water surface of the then Tethys ocean as a result of volcanic processes related to the early Alpine orogeny. Significant amounts of basaltic lava flowed onto the sea floor, mixing unevenly with limestone in places. Much later, in the early Tertiary, the African plate collided with the Eurasian plate, narrowing the Tethys basin between them and pushing sediments into enormous nappes. One such nappe (including the Sopron Mountains) was thrust over the current mountain area around 45-60 million years ago. Rocks buried 15-25 km deep recrystallized under great pressure and frictional heat, developing characteristic schistose structures, forming the metamorphosed green schist from basalt building the Kalapos-kövek. Afterward, the area uplifted. The limestone-rich parts eroded faster under erosion and deflation than the limestone-poor ones, creating these unique rock forms.

A total of eight small caves are known around the rocks. From the south side open the Antarctica niche, the Treacherous Eave, and the Limax cave. The latter is named after a species of slug living inside, the yellow cellar slug (Limax flavus). According to a legend, the Devil once lived in the cave and in anger created a depression in the rock above, resulting in the Kalapos-kő’s formation. Another story claims the giant teeth found here belonged to giants living here long ago.

In any case, the oddly shaped rocks have long played an important role in the sacred life of locals. Proof of this is a 6.5 cm bronze female figurine holding a cup, dated to the Hallstatt culture (8th–7th century BC), and a hearth found beneath one rock with associated pottery and grinding stone fragments.

About 300 meters further along the path, we reach the junction of the KΩ trail leading to the Holler cave, where the path passes through a blueberry grove. This species, along with sheep's sorrel, is a good indicator plant of Hungary's most acidic soil types, acidic, non-podzolic brown forest soils. The cave opens with a 2×1 m entrance and ends in a 5 m long chamber formed by schist slabs peeling off along rock fissures, later accelerated by increasing weathering. Local limestone content likely influenced its formation. The cave, also suitable as a bivouac site, is named after the nearby Holler meadow located today in Austria. Another name (Window Cave) comes from a small window-like opening on its side. Early medieval pottery fragments were found in the cave.

Ascent to Írott-kő

The K trail emerges onto a wide dirt road where we turn right and gradually descend to the Bozsoki stream flowing on our right. We cross it and climb through beech forest in the upper section of the Sötét valley. After a large S curve, the worn path leads left without markings at K▲, then a few meters to the right to the K● trail. First, we reach the mountain range's highest unoccupied spring, the Tündér spring, followed by the Ebenspanger spring, surfacing under beech roots. The latter was named in 1900 by Miss Irénke Tatay during a hike at Írott-kő in memory of János Ebenspanger, vice president of the Vas County Hiking Association.

Continuing along the path, we return to the K trail, which soon takes a sharp left turn where the P trail joins, goes through a harvested forest area, passes the coal briquette crossing, then leads through beech and spruce forest to a resting place at the base of the Írott-kő peak.

At the top of Transdanubia

Transdanubia’s highest point was called Fenyő-hegy in the 13th century and Szálkő from the 17th century. Its current name comes from the quartzitic phyllite rock at the peak next to the lookout on the Austrian side, which used to bear clear inscriptions of the letters “C”, “B”, “E”. These letters probably abbreviate Confinia Battyányiana Esterházyana, meaning the Batthyány-Esterházy border in Hungarian, but they also rhyme with the name Comes Batthyány Elemér.

Locals built a wooden lookout named Árpád to mark the millennium in 1891 on the summit, which was demolished in 1908 due to poor condition. In 1913, a stone tower was erected instead, which, from after World War II until the border closure in 1989, was only accessible from the Austrian side. Interestingly, the state border passes right through the middle of the tower, marked by a boundary stone inside.

From the renovated 2010 building, in clear weather, one can see as far as Lake Balaton, which shimmers south of Bakony among the witness hills of the Tapolca Basin. Further south are the Keszthely Mountains and Rendek Hill, followed by the Zala Hills. Looking southwest, with luck, the peaks of the Kamnik Alps appear, but the first eastern Alpine peaks over 2,000 m, Schneeberg and Wechsel, and behind them the Rax, seemingly tower above its surroundings. The lower but also striking Hohe Wand cliffs are usually visible from the lookout. To the north, Vienna and the Listha Mountains, dotted with wind turbines behind Lake Fertő, can be seen.

Back to Bozsok

From the lookout, we head southeast on the P trail, this stretch running along the former Iron Curtain line. About 1 km later, we reach the Killer Rock (Gyilkos-szikla) standing under the ridge on the left side at boundary stone C.O. 15. It first appeared on a 1961 topographic map, but the origin of the name is uncertain. Some say a border guard was killed here in the 1950s; it might also have emerged in the 1920s or ’30s and could be related to smugglers. Based on old stories, at least half a dozen people died violent deaths in the area, usually linked to some kind of settling of scores.

From the varying steepness ridge, we descend all the way to the stream running below, cross the creek, and, keeping left on the road, continue descending through the Sötét Valley on the P trail. We pass the junction with the P▲ trail, then after a barrier, turn right onto the gravel excavation road on the ALPANNONIA S trail.

The Bozsoki stream flows on the left side of the road, accompanied by a beautiful alder grove. This small watercourse, which supplied a swimming area some hundred years ago, sawed off the Holt Hill on the opposite bank from the Kalapos-kő–Széles-kő ridge.

Shortly after the waterworks fence, we arrive at the junction with the K+ trail, which runs alongside the fence of the Sibrik Castle park, now functioning as a hotel. Soon, stairs lead right up from the side of the deep road to a crucifix housed in a masonry pillar.

From here, it’s only a few minutes to the K trail running along the border of Bozsok, which we follow straight on. Heading south on Rákóczi street, we soon reach the Saint Anna parish church, behind which a ruin hides. The square monastery building, built in the 15th–16th centuries, is attributed by some sources to the Paulines, by others to the Premonstratensian provostry. Its north and west walls remain relatively intact, with lancet windows on them. The building is under monument protection and was described as a ruin in sources from the early 17th century. Heading towards the village center, we soon return to the Bozsok bus stop where our hike began.