Panorama hike to Öreg-kő

• From Nagysáp we start at the Z marking.
• We take a short detour on the left fork via the ZL marking to the remains of Berényvár.
• We return to the Z marking and then follow it to Péliföldszentkereszt.
• From Péliföldszentkereszt to the rest area located under the Öreg-kő we follow the K marking.
• From the rest area we take a detour to the Öreg-kő on the K▲ and KΩ markings.
• We descend back to the forest resting place, from where we follow the K◼ marking all the way to Bajót.

Detailed description of the tour

Departure from Nagysáp

The tour starts from Nagysáp located in the northeastern part of Gerecse. We leave the settlement on the Z marking along Damjanich János Street. On maps, the area known as Magyalos or Kerek-berek is a hilly, open area bordered by fields where we travel on dirt roads. Around us is a wide panorama, whose horizon is jointly formed by the silhouettes of Gerecse, Pilis and the Buda Hills: we have a view of the characteristic cliff of the Öreg-kő mountain rising to the north, the prominent hump of Nagy-Gete to the east dominates the horizon, and to the south the ridges of Kevélyek are visible first.

After a forested, gentle slope section, we reach the junction of the ZL marking, which with a few meters of climbing leads to the earthen ramparts of Berényvár. This is presumably an Árpád-era earth fort whose traces are recognizable, but from the hilltop, no view is available.

The home of the Salesians – Péliföldszentkereszt

Crossing fields, we approach the well-kept environment of Péliföldszentkereszt and the soaring eagle’s perch of Öreg-kő above it. Péliföldszentkereszt is the cradle of the Salesian order in Hungary founded by Don Bosco and a dynamically developing religious and tourist site in the Eastern Gerecse region. Beside the church and monastery, a buffet welcomes visitors, and the Gerecse Nature Park Visitor Center opened in 2019 offers numerous programs. Twice a year – in May and September – pilgrims come for a celebration in the sanctuary and the calvary hill. On these occasions, the Catholic Church celebrates the finding and exaltation of the Holy Cross, a fragment of which is kept at Péliföldszentkereszt.

At Péliföldszentkereszt, we switch to the National Blue Trail K marking that leads around the baroque sanctuary and monastery towards Öreg-kő. Shortly after, we reach the Saint’s Well and the altar and shrine of the Lourdes cave. Afterwards, the path returns to the fields, we continue along straight dirt roads beside a wildlife fence, then after a couple of hundred meters, we reach the forest surrounding Öreg-kő and its gentle ascent.

Öreg-kő

The limestone building up Gerecse has been fragmented into spectacular blocks by various structural movements capable of vertical displacement along fault lines. The 374 m high, northeastern steep cliff of Öreg-kő bears witness to this with its tilted strata. Our hike ascends the cliff’s main attractions via the K marking along a resting place and then branching onto the stepped trails KΩ and K▲.

A window to the sky – Jankovich Cave

On the side of Öreg-kő opens one of Hungary’s most spectacular rock formations, the Jankovich Cave. It was formed thanks to karst waters flowing upward from the depths, which created visible hollows and hydrothermal dissolution forms in the limestone. These once served as natural shelters not only for extinct animals but also for the prehistoric humans who lived here: the unique finds uncovered during excavations in 1911 indicate a distinct Paleolithic culture named after the cave, Jankovich. The spacious but only 35 m long cave features a dome hall 20 m high with an 8 m diameter chimney opening to the surface, and the incoming light gives a special atmosphere to the rock hollow. At the end of the chamber, one can descend into a narrower and darker passage – a headlamp is necessary here – which currently hosts a significant bat colony.

Öreg-kő’s rock face also hides other passages; some of their entrances can be reached by short detours from the stair sequences. The 46 m long Baits Cave’s striking entrance is easy to find on the ascent to the Jankovich Cave, but for Szalay Cave or the closed shaft of cave no. 1, the map needs to be carefully followed. An information board at the cave entrances tells about the millions of years of limestone shaping forces and the rich shapes they created.

View from the cliff

From Jankovich Cave, the K▲ marking leads up to the panoramic summit, where several viewpoints offer primarily northern or southeastern vistas. From the K▲ and Z▲ junction, a few steps away is a rock plateau overlooking the Danube and the Felvidék region. In the left background of the view, the ridge of the Madaras (Vtáčnik) mountains appears. Facing us is the band of the Danube forming the state border, beyond which – looking a bit to the right – is the cliff-faced Helemba (Burda) mountains, with the Börzsöny block behind it. To the east, the prominent hump of Nagy-Gete attracts the gaze, and in the distance, the Pilis ridge paints the horizon.

Another viewpoint of the cliff is found on an unmarked path 100 meters south from the K▲ marking. From here, the main views are over Péliföldszentkereszt below us, the southeastern slopes of Gerecse, its central block, the ridge of Kevélyek, and the Buda Hills.

After descending on K▲ marking to the forest resting place on the National Blue Trail, we follow the K◼ marking northwards then westwards. From the hiking trail junction, we walk two kilometers in the forest to our terminus, Bajót.