Soaring over the capital - in the footsteps of gliding

Itinerary

• From Hűvösvölgy follow the S sign to the Homok-hegy junction.
• We go out to the Homok-hegy on an unmarked path, then return to the hiking trail.
• Follow the S sign across the Újlaki-hegy to the Virágos-nyereg. (An unmarked path leads to the ramp on Újlaki-hegy.)
• We climb up to the top of Hármashatár-hegy on the K sign (to the right).
• Also descend on the K sign to the junction of Remetehegyi árok street.
• Change to the K+ sign turning onto Remetehegyi árok street (to the left), which we follow until the end of our walk through the Remete-hegy and Mátyás-hegy.

Detailed description of the tour

Through the king's game reserve

The Ördög-árok stream is the specialist in pathfinding among the Budai rögök; despite its modest size, it has found a way to the Danube through several crags. Its valleys and gorges marked important transportation corridors for the increasing number of settlers. Such a narrowing deepened in the case of Hűvös-völgy, where the valley opening flatly towards the Danube connects with the coldkúti basin embraced by mountains. On this significant traffic artery, a pub was established already in the late 18th century, and later a restaurant called Balázs after the operating family's name operated here until the early 21st century, when it went bankrupt and was demolished. The site probably got its name from the cold air trapped in the narrow, deep area; its older German name, Kühlental, literally means "cool valley." The historic-looking timbered station buildings date from the 19th century, although during a reconstruction (at the end of the 1990s) they were rebuilt slightly away from their original location.

We leave the terminal on its city-center side on the S sign. We cross the train tracks and the highway, then also the Ördög-árok, before tackling the climb of Nyéki-hegy on the far side. It is named after the nearby medieval village of Nyék, where King Mátyás’ hunting castle once stood, but more interestingly a small black pine patch occupies the downy-oak covered slope. Many believe it shapes the outline of Greater Hungary, but whether this was intentional when it was planted is unclear. Some sources say it was planted by scouts in the 1930s when creating Trianon memorials was fashionable, while others say the shape is intentional but who and when planted it remains a mystery. It may also be a remnant of the reforestation program of barren, eroded mountain soils carried out since the end of the 19th century.

The path weaves through a mix of oaks and pines, then tackles the hill. We cross a forestry road and touch the Vadaskerti-nyereg. Its name refers to a royal favored hunting ground enclosed by nearly 6 kilometers of stone walls. From the saddle, we turn left and descend to the foot of the hill with several turns. We cross a World War trench, and at the lower junction we can notice one of the many military graves in the area, which with the nearby ammunition bunkers are reminders of the fierce battles of the last days of World War II. Here can also be found the monument of King Mátyás’ game reserve - a low, elongated mound beside one of the promenades marks the remains of an old wall.

The airport

For a short detour, our hike leaves the marked paths and crosses the K sign to invite us to the summit of Homok-hegy. From this small hill, the idyllic, grassy pasture of the airport unfolds. The huge lawn band framed by the hills and Újlaki-hegy (the former field of the coldkúti residents) serves as the base for gliders, while paragliders frequently circle above. Its predecessor, opened between the two world wars, was the site of the domestic aviation renaissance, later becoming a historical and indispensable venue. The airport operated by the Technical University Sports Flying Club tested many of its designs here first (including the inventions of Ernő Rubik). The beginnings were difficult: authorities declared the Hármashatár-hegy area unsuitable for flying until the renowned designer and pilot Lajos Rotter was the first to soar over it, proving the decision wrong. Rotter did not leave anything to chance: he found this exceptionally good gliding site by attaching a paper strip to the end of a long stick and studying the airflow on the mountain group with engineer precision. The prevailing northwest winds twisted by the mountains create an updraft here capable of "sticking" planes and paragliders to the sky for a particularly long time, while nearly every type of wind produces a marked uplift. (For example, Rotter launched from here reaching 1300 meters and glided all the way to Szanda Castle in Nógrád.) Of course, as technology evolved, so did the airport: initially, planes were "shot out" from the summit with rubber ropes, but as winching and towing became dominant, the base and the grass pasture also moved to the valley. The opposite bushy hill named Vöröskő-vár was originally the landing site.

At the end of the 1960s, it was even the venue for the pentathlon world championship, and after a few years' break, it still serves its original purpose nowadays. Its superb location is also popular as a hiking destination and enjoys protection because its soil is inhabited by ground squirrels - a joy for several bird species preying on them and the very rare Hungarian meadow viper. The view is captivating, but it is time to turn our backs on it and aim for the adjacent heights.

Rock castle on the city edge

Returning to the S sign, we pass Határ-nyereg, whose name origin is shown by boundary stones nearby (e.g., beside the Homok-hegy path): here once stretched the border between Budapest and the still independent Hidegkút. On a small path, at the end of a strenuous climb, we arrive at the end of Szépvölgyi út, which we leave to the left, going forward. The gravel road gradually becomes a path, and after turning left at a fork, rocks jut out from the ground. We climb the slope of Újlaki-hegy in a sparse oak grove; we don’t have to walk long before the vegetation opens up and gives way to dolomite rock.

From a rocky grassland equipped with a bench, the airport and its wide surroundings open before us, with Széchenyi-hegy and János-hegy as well as the closer Nyéki-hegy towering opposite. To the right, the outer area of the Buda Hills rises, but this direction is better inspected from the summit. Hard to pass, a rugged rock castle on the mountaintop offers one of the best views over Budapest from its northwest slope. Due to the great distance, the scene is particularly rich in detail: below, the Vöröskő-vár hill looms, alongside stretches the airport’s pasture; behind the houses of Máriaremete and Pesthidegkút rise substantial hills such as Nagy-Szénás, and behind them the blocks of Kutya-hegy. To the left of the deeply carved walls of Remete-szurdok, far to the back, Nagy-Kopasz appears, which its lookout helps identify. Turning right, we can look further: the Gerecse’s Nagy-Gete appears, and the long stretch of Pilis ridge with Kétágú-hegy and Pilis-tető; the Dobogókő plateau peeks out behind Hosszú-hegy. In the distance, peaks of Börzsöny can be seen; closer, near Csúcs-hegy, the rocky slopes of Nagy-Kevély stand guard. The panorama is stunning as countless mountains ripple near the capital. From the summit, we can also narrowly look out towards the top of Hármashatár-hegy and the city.

The western slope of the mountain features a dragon starting ramp, while paragliders rather use the small bare spot for takeoff. Down below, it’s worth observing the Vöröskő-vár hangar building: its precise north-south orientation was to help turning planes in the correct direction after landing. Our path swings forward through dense, closed forest until reaching shrubby, park-like terrain. At one point, we cross the ruin of a clearly defined gravel macadam road: during the dawn of Hármashatár-hegy flying, planes that landed behind Vöröskő-vár were brought up this route to the summit airport and its hangars. The path nicknamed "Breathers" was used by students carrying, pushing, and dragging the planes upwards before mechanizing the exhausting process (later, the airport also moved down from the mountaintop).

Traces of flying

We turn on a charming grove’s water-worn tract and reach the spacious clearing of Virágos-nyereg by gentle ascent. On the former pasture, we change signs: right, on the National Blue Trail (K sign), we start the climb of Vihar-hegy. On this grueling, steep slope, we tread on a stony path reminiscent of our karst mountains. Descending along boundary stones into a saddle, we avoid the payment tower’s fenced area on a further ascent, now on the rocky ridge of the mountain top. (A short detour to the right leads to a small limestone peak offering views over the coldkúti basin and its surrounding crags, and there hides a memorial of a tragic accident among the trees. In May 1982, Hungarian aerobatic team members, instructors, and mechanics took off from Budaörs airport to pick up some new planes at Dunakeszi. However, in wind and heavy fog, the plane collided with the side of Hármashatár-hegy, killing all its passengers. Only one person escaped the tragedy: the later aerobatics champion Péter Besenyei was not allowed onboard.)

The K sign soon leads towards the inner part of the mountain top, where the Rotter Lajos Tourist House building also appears under the shade of tall black pines. Like so many things at the summit, its history is closely linked with aviation: originally designed as a pilot’s home, it was handed over in solemn ceremonies attended by important dignitaries. Its namesake, Lajos Rotter, besides the already mentioned merits, was the designer of the first Hungarian glider aircraft and co-designer of the first Hungarian passenger plane, but he gained the greatest recognition by unofficially setting a record at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, flying to Kiel with his own designed glider, the Nemere. Subsequently, gliding became an Olympic sport.

Budapest’s green peninsula

The hiking trail passes former hangars (which housed the Workers' Guard base during communism), with a bistro offering refreshment. Take advantage of it, as the way to the foot of the hill is still long. We can measure how long from the soon-to-appear Guckler Károly lookout. From the upper level of a timber-framed sphere built on World War II air defense remnants, a fantastic view opens: Hármashatár-hegy extends into Budapest like a peninsula, so the city surrounds the hill on three sides. We can follow the Danube’s flow, observing the merging of lowlands and highlands. The well-known ridges of Szentendre and Buda appear, with many famous buildings easily identified. In the opposite direction, the green Pilis and Visegrád Mountains rise behind translucent towers, and the peaks of High Börzsöny appear in the background. The lookout’s namesake, Károly Guckler, as city forester, directed the reforestation of the Budai bare hills. Black pines were planted on eroded soils, taking root even on rocky areas, with patches found in several places on Hármashatár-hegy. The origin of the hill’s name dates back to Budapest’s founding: until 1873, the borders of Buda, Óbuda, and Hidegkút met here. It was previously known as Pilis because of its bare top, later spreading from the German name Drei Hotterberg. (Interestingly, during the 1847 renaming of Buda places, it was called Árpád's peak – which did not catch on.)

It is worth walking out to the southern side of the hill too, from where we can partly overlook János-hegy and also discover war bunkers and remnants of interesting technical solutions of the once summit-dominant airport. Among some crumbling, broken concrete surfaces, one still bears the iron hook into which planes' rubber ropes were hooked for takeoff: "slingshotting" was done by students running in line, tautening the rubber on two wings at the command "Pull!", then scattering at "Run!". The securing wire at the end of the planes was unlocked by a person on a separate call, after which the plane "shot out" and could circle above the mountains, clinging to the wind wings.

Landing among houses

Starting to descend along ruined bunkers from the summit, we leave the restaurant originally built as a tourist house in the 1920s. We descend on a dense, hardly passable mixed forest path, which widens into a promenade, crossing the asphalt road several times. At a right bend, our route turns left and starts climbing the small dome of Remete-hegy on the K+ sign. After a short street walk, we turn right and cut through the forest to the edges of streets winding up the slope. On asphalt, along panoramic gardens, we climb and then say goodbye to Nyereg street, starting the exhausting, hard climb of Mátyás-hegy. Although the increasingly steep slope may seem long, soon we come to a rock face, enclosed at the base by a railing around the dark Mátyás-hegyi rock cave. We hike on densely latticed karst, which hides the country's longest (32 km total length) cave system. Complex processes are responsible for the extensive passages: the old sedimentary rocks of the Budai Mountains were fragmented by structural movements, and warm water solutions intruded through cracks in the broken rock blocks from the deep karst. (Here is the upwelling zone of waters absorbed by the Transdanubian Mountains, which also supplies the city's baths.) These dissolved and expanded smaller and larger cracks into huge chambers and long tunnels; over time, rainwater infiltrating from above also contributed to the process.

We cross the mountain peak and start the final descent, during which we also visit the railing-secured edge of the Mátyás-hegy quarry. Behind the mine courtyard – for the first time on our hike – the cityscape dominates (instead of the mountains). Not visible from here, but the (guided) entrance to the Mátyás-hegy cave was found in this quarry while the city sought to supply construction material demand with good quality, hard limestone.

The path turns its back on the quarry and leads out to the street on wooden steps supported by planks, where turning left we reach the bus stop, the end point of our tour.