Spartacus Hunting Trail

Itinerary

• From the main square of Pilisszentlászló head northwest and follow the Green (Z) markers along Béke Street.
• Past the football field (and the last houses of the village) the traik enters the woods and begins a steep descent. A sign at a flat part will show that Spartacus Trail starts on the right.
• Past the first section of the trail you will arrive at Jenő-kunyhó (hikers' lodge) in a saddle. The trail continues to the north along a wide forest road. In a few meters it sharply turns right onto a path. Follow the winding path until the trail returns to a forest road again.
• The road starts to descend. The Green (Z) trail turns left uphill but change to Green + (Z+) to the left to get to Apát-kúti-völgy.
• In Apát-kúti-völgy turn left and follow the Red (P) markers to reach the bus stops and the ferry in Visegrád.

Turn-by-turn directions

Your hike starts in Pilisszentlászló, a neat village hiding inside Visegrád Mountains along the Green (Z) trail. Hike along the lengthy Béke Street and exit the village. The hill beyond the grazing land on the left (Öreg-Pap-hegy) is the one that you will explore along Spartacus Trail. It had been used by hunters for decades since the 1930s but its eastern section has been marked and open for hikers since 2015 (the western section is still closed).

After a lengthy hike on a dirt track with the occasional vista of Prédikálószék to the left the trail passes an abandoned stone mine as well as a few buildings and enters the woods. The landscape changes radically as you are hiking downhill in a dark and chilly beech forest. At the bottom with a clear-cut on the right a sign shows the direction to Spartacus Trail.

The path starts a mild ascent across the clear-cut and when returns to the forest takes a sharp right turn and changes to the other side of the peak. Level hiking begins here while slopes below get steeper and steeper, which is typical in this part of Visegrád Mountains.

Past the next sharp right turn the most picturesque section of the trail begins. Due to the course of the trail you will experience a variety of landscapes in a few hundred meters. The path was etched in andesite rock, the slope is nearly vertical. The trail crosses a small draw and arrives at the edge of an earthflow.

Because of the steepness of the slope and rapid watercourse a mass of earth of considerable thickness slid downslope. In rainy weather the path here is quite muddy and hard to walk. In a few meters stairs carved in the rock will guide you back to a safer path. A large andesite tower rising above like a chimney is guarding the trail here. It was formed after explosive volcanic eruptions when ejected material accumulated and cemented together forming hard and resistant andesite breccia blocks. As their softer surroundings had eroded these formations rose high above their environment. 

The trail exits the forest and arrives a barren slope. This is the greatest viewpoint of Spartacus Trail. Besides the surrounding hills you can spot the Danube below Szent Mihály-hegy. The slope has a special micro climate as dark andesite rocks collect sunshine and warm up the surface by radiating this heat.

The trail continues and crosses a draw again and after a lengthy straight hike arrives at Jenő-kunyhó (hikers' lodge, open all day with simple equipment, such as mattresses, kitchen utensils and a stove).

Head north and turn right off the forest road. Soon another untamed part of the trail begins as slopes get steep and scrubby again and you have to hike along a narrow path carved in the rock.

Spartacus Trail really ends here. Turn left onto a forest road and past a double curve the trail begins to descend. (Right past the first curve a short straight section begins. Take a detour to the left towards the light and walk uphill to a little clearing and a little further straight ahead because a barren spot offers a splendid view over the gorge-like Szent László Völgy and Apát-kúti-völgy on the left. From the top of a rock you can even spot the lookout tower on Nagy-Villám.)

At a bend the Green (Z) trail diverges from the forest road to the left (spur trail to the viewpoint of Bányatető-kilátó towards Visegrád) and the trip continues along the Green + (Z+) and ascends to Apát-kúti-völgy. Cross the creek and turn left onto the Red (P) trail.

The trail joins a paved road leading between the creekbed on one side and Bertényi Miklós Arboretum with its large pines and Ördögmalom Restaurant on the other. You will pass the rapid of Ördögmalom-vízesés and a small fishpond (Apátkúti-halastó). From there on natural environment is replaced by buildings on the outskirts of Visegrád. After a lengthy walk across Visegrád the trip ends at the riverside, at the bus stops and ferry port.