Páfrányok útja - Red tour (long)

Itinerary :

Follow the red Páfrányok útja sign along the entire route.

• Start from the Csácsbozsok Bozsok area, then set off along Bozsoki street towards the edge of the settlement.
• After the barrier, continue on the dirt road on the left side.
• At a forest crossroads, turn right towards Karácsony Hill.
• At the top of the hill, immediately turn left into the forest.
• Follow the S+ mark until the Keserves oak.
• Continue on the left path towards Nemeshetés.
• Turn right onto the main road of Nemeshetés, which leads out of the village.
• Together with Mária road, proceed straight to Botfa.
• In Botfa, turn north at the Erdődy-Hüvös Castle.
• Following a long straight section parallel to the road, turn right at the end and return to Bozsok.

Detailed description of the hike :

The Csácsbozsok area, now part of Zalaegerszeg, was formed by the unification of the villages of Csács and Bozsok. Bozsok has been famous for its forests since the Middle Ages, and fortunately this remains true today. The area’s forests are intersected by hiking trails, and the Csácsbozsoki Arboretum showcasing the county's diverse tree population has been created along the city boundary. Nowadays, a less natural "barrier," the main road 76, runs between the two formerly independent villages. All three variations of the Páfrányok útja start from Bozsok located south of this road and remain on that side throughout, weaving through the Csács-Botfa forest block.

From the garden suburb to the vineyard hill

We start from a pleasant, green garden suburb in the direction indicated by the sign, initially on the side of Bozsoki Hill, gently ascending almost imperceptibly. The asphalt of Bozsoki street changes to a dirt road after the barrier, allowing us to immediately experience the advantages and disadvantages of clay soil: in summer the road does not get dusty, but in rainy weather (which is not uncommon here) it can be quite challenging. The huge advantage of the area is that after just a few steps away from "civilization," we find ourselves in a dense forest. Due to the wetter-than-average weather, the air between the hills and in the valleys is more humid, noticeably higher in moisture.

Soon we reach a meadow reclaimed by vegetation growing in a former clear-cut area. We can discover fast-growing alders, oak seedlings barely ten centimeters tall, and occasionally just sprouting ferns. Originally, the densest populations of the ferns that give the trail its name grew exactly in this now harvested section of the forest, hence the information board about them is found here. However, this does not mean that smaller or larger ferns cannot be spotted along the route, so it is worth keeping an eye out. The two most common fern species are the shield fern and the lady fern; these flowering-less plants retain their green color until December and prefer lush undergrowth in moist environments, nutrient-rich deciduous and coniferous forests. In oak, beech, and pine habitats, less frequently, one can also see scaly shield fern and kidney fern. Ferns are special plants among perennials as they have no flowers or fruits and reproduce by spores. We can observe these ourselves between July and September during the spore ripening season: spore cases line up clearly on the undersides of the leaves.

We walk in the former floodplain of the Zala River, where lower lying areas have preserved their flat, marshy characteristics in places. The alder loves this environment, and Zalaegerszeg is named after this tree. Along the trail, we repeatedly encounter resinous alder, as alder trees accompany us to the first forest junction. Here we turn right and start the ascent to Karácsony Hill, the highest vineyard hill around Zalaegerszeg. The honorary 'hill' name is traditionally given to vineyard hills in Zala, although even the highest barely exceeds 300 meters.

However, the climb has to be done here too, beginning in a waterwashed ditch. The almost vertical-walled, characteristic deep tracks were shaped by swiftly flowing water in the soft, clay soil, and most have been deepened and widened over time to be suitable for transportation. While we later encounter versions lined with asphalt, particularly near settlements, the path to Karácsony Hill can still be explored in its natural state as relatively narrow ditches.

Dense vegetation accompanies our path, which soon flattens out as thinning foliage opens views onto the hills surrounding the forest block. After a few hundred meters, we reach Karácsony Hill Road, but just briefly, as we turn back into the forest on a nearby path. The three routes that had run together now diverge: while the green and blue trails continue along the ridge of the hill, the red marked Páfrány route heads towards Nemeshetés together with the S+ sign.

Towards Nemeshetés

We walk onward on a slightly descending forest road, with a pleasantly airy section accompanied by mixed woodland. We pass a smaller beech forest; oaks and locally native Scots pines are accompanied by hornbeams. About 1 km later, at a fork, our eyes catch a huge branched oak. Called the 'Keserves oak', this two-hundred-year-old sessile oak is one of the increasingly rare, especially old specimens. Over the long decades, a unique, independent ecosystem has developed around such giant trees: thousands of living creatures live, grow, or feed among their branches, bark, leaves, roots, and even in their shade. Europe's largest beetle, the stag beetle, is particularly connected to old oaks. According to folk tradition, the 'keserves' (bitter) name was given in memory of a young soldier who died nearby during World War II.

Continuing onward, we slowly reach the border of Nemeshetés; the vineyards of Öreg Hill indicate the proximity of the settlement. Zala County has been a renowned wine-producing region since the Middle Ages, which was one of the main sources of livelihood here until the late 1800s. However, downy mildew, phylloxera, and after World War I, the detachment of the Austrian border market dealt a serious blow to traditional viticulture. Nevertheless, the majority of Nemeshetés families owned their own vineyards on the surrounding hills until World War II. Every wine community had its own rules, customs, and festivals, with overseers called 'hegymesterek' keeping order on the larger hills. The unique names of the vineyard hills also indicate that this work was part of everyday life here. Alongside the distinctly sounding Gondóta, Kucogi, Atyahegy, Látomhegy, and Prücsökhegy, more familiar names like Kopasz, Öröm, and Öreg Hill also occur.

On Öreg Hill, which our route passes through, traditional timber-walled cellars still stand, and from several places we get fantastic panoramas. To the west, above the Szévíz Valley, the Keszthely Mountains appear, and to the south, we can spot the elegant antenna tower of Tukora Peak in the distance. Arriving among the houses of Nemeshetés, we see traditional wine processing tools such as presses, wooden barrels, vats, and tubs exhibited in an open-air exhibition.

A small detour is worth visiting the unique reinforced concrete church of the village. The Roman Catholic church named after the Holy Spirit may seem striking at first glance, as it differs greatly from usual appearances. In the village, no new church was built to replace the one destroyed in the Turkish era; furthermore, during the decades of socialism, there were fears of depopulation. Therefore, the community decided to build a new church, accomplished through local cooperation and collective work between 1974 and 1976 under the direction of the neighboring Búcsúszentlászló parish priest, designed by architect Ferenc Török. According to the plans, martial arts specialists were supposed to rusticize the concrete walls from the outside using destructive techniques, but they refused, claiming they did not want to ruin their work. The designer finally yielded, so the ribbed surface visible today remained. In 2019, the roof and interior were also renovated with community collaboration.

Among the Zala hills

We leave the settlement southwards along Petőfi Sándor Street and join Mária Road coming from Búcsúszentlászló. A stone cross marks the end of the solid pavement at the top of a small rise, where a wide, open space welcomes us: arable fields and grassy hills fill our field of view, with forests covering only the hilltops. This landscape accompanies our path for quite a while, perfectly representing the famous Zala hills region. Beneath our feet, once again we feel the softness and "hospitality" of clay and sometimes sandy marine sediments deposited in the Pannonian Sea and exposed in many places in the Zala Hills. Heading west towards Botfa, our reliable compass, the Bazita TV tower, appears again. Forested and park-like stretches alternate, then after crossing a ditch, we arrive in Botfa, a garden-suburb type area of Zalaegerszeg. We walk along the main road past neat houses until opposite the bus stop at the far end of the street (Botfa, Botfa Street), where the onion-domed tower of the Catholic church rises among the trees. Next to the late Baroque building stands the Erdődy-Hüvös Castle.

The originally single-storey manor was built in 1750 by the then owner of the area, Count Erdődy family. In 1880, together with the estate, it became the property of Áron Hirschel who renovated and extended the Baroque style building and added romantic bastion-like balconies at both ends. The reorganized estate was inherited by his son Salamon, who Magyarized the family name to Hüvös. After World War II, the building was mostly used for educational and cultural purposes and currently operates as the Mindszenty Youth House, providing accommodation and community spaces supporting hikers and pilgrims. The English park developed around the castle is still colloquially called Ánglis. Since the Páfrányok útja runs along this edge, we can admire linden trees over 120 years old and also century-old horse chestnut groves.

The border of town and forest

From Botfa, we walk almost straight through the Felső-Válicka valley for about 4 km all the way to Bozsok. The proximity of water and former floodplain is shown by the re-emerging resinous alder forest here, and looking down, we also find a good number of the route’s namesake plants, the ferns. A few hundred meters away from our path, running parallel to it, is road 74, which we do not see but can hear its traffic noise here. This, of course, does not diminish the beauty of the landscape: initially the road runs through a mixed culture forest with Scots pines, together with the Mária Road that joins us from Nemeshetés. Halfway along this section the forest opens up and meadows decorated with wildflowers surround us. A soft, grass-covered cart track replaces the previous forest dirt road, while the view of Zalaegerszeg sprawling to the left widens. The fact that we walk along the border of nature and civilization is indicated by the round tanks of the oil refinery, recognizable from a distance above the trees. We reach back to Bozsok on a wooded, forest edge trail, arriving at Szabadság Street, the meaningful starting point of our detailed hike.