Stone Mountain Whirlpool

• From Dömörkapu, walk uphill along the paved road (markedZ+ ) to the bridge, where you can turn right onto the stairs and descend to the waterfall.
• From the waterfall, walk back toward the bus stop.
• Before the bus stop, turn right onto the Z▲ trail, which leads to Bölcső Hill, passing by the Lajos Spring, among other sights.
• From Bölcső Hill, continue following the Z▲ sign until the fork, where the trail turns right.
• At this fork, continue straight ahead, following the P◼ trail marker, which you should follow until the fork before the Lajos Spring.
• Before the Lajos Spring, switch to the K+ trail marker, which turns right and ends next to the János Spring.
• At the fork next to the János Spring, turn left onto the Z trail marker, which leads to the János Czibulka Mountain Hut on Kő-hegy.
• At the shelter, turn left onto the S trail, which you’ll leave at the fork before the Vasas Gorge.
• Here, turn right onto the SΩ trail marker, which leads to the Vasas Gorge.
• From the Vasas Gorge, continue following the ZΩ trail marker (maintaining your direction) until it joins the Z trail marker.
• Turn left onto the Z trail, which leads down to the paved road at Dömörkapu.
• Turning left onto the paved road, you can walk back to Dömörkapu.

Detailed description of the hike

The gateway to the Bükkös Creek valley

Our hike begins in the Bükkös Creek valley, at the Dömörkapu parking lot. Before setting out on the Z▲ trail leading up to Lajosforrás, it’s worth taking a short walk to the waterfall located near the bridge on the forest road. The waterfall preserves a fragment of the stream’s former gorge landscape, which was permanently altered by the construction of the road in the 1920s and the onset of andesite mining: although the open-pit mining areas have since become overgrown with trees, they are still clearly visible on both sides of the road. Incidentally, the waterfall was 6–7 meters high before the road was built.

The former mines become even more recognizable as we begin our climb along the Z▲ trail. Small trails branch off to lookout points above the rock faces, from which we can view the former mining yard and the valley of the Bükkös Stream. Large-scale mining began here in 1923 and continued until the 1960s. The extracted stone was transported via a cable car to the HÉV station 6.5 kilometers away, where a crushing plant also operated.

Following a level trail, we arrive at the Sándor Kőrösi Csoma Rest Area, which offers a panoramic view in the same direction as our previous vantage points. Its “unique feature” is a cairn erected in 1978 in memory of the great traveler, which was carried up here by students from the Sándor Kőrösi Csoma High School. The monument features a ceramic work by sculptor Ágnes Marsai.

Above Szentendre

We turn south from the lookout point, and the trail begins to climb. After walking 1 km along a forest path, we arrive at the neglected building of the Endre Ságvári shelter at Lajos Spring and the spring that gives the place its name, the Lajos Spring. It’s a popular spot for day trips and picnics, and we’re sure to run into locals who are filling their one-liter jugs with the “good water.”

The people of Szentendre have been coming here for centuries for “Dobra voda” (meaning “good water”), as the Serbian population named the stream that originates here. The basin was completed in 1908, and the spring was named after the landowner, Lajos Podmaniczky. Later, the area became the property of Antal Dreher, and after nationalization, his former castle was converted into the Endre Ságvári Shelter, of which only the crumbling, fenced-off ruins remain today.

Our ascent isn’t over yet; we continue climbing along the steep Z▲ trail on the side of Bölcső Hill. We cover roughly half a kilometer this way, then we emerge into the flattening saddle between the twin peaks of Bölcső Hill, from where it’s just a short walk to the 588-meter-high summit and the lookout tower atop it, which resembles a Jenga tower.

From the top, a beautiful panoramic view unfolds: to the north lies the Visegrád Mountains, with the Börzsöny range rising behind them. To the east, Szentendre, sprawling across the Danube river terrace, opens up the view toward the Great Plain. Turning south, beyond the ridges of Nagy-Csikóvár and the Kevély Mountains, you can see Hármashatár and Széchenyi Hills, recognizable by their transmission towers; to the right of them, the crest of János Hill is visible, and looking further, two distinctive landmarks rise up: the Pilis-tető plateau and Dobogó-kő.

In the Footsteps of Petőfi and Napoleon

We descend from the mountaintop along the Z▲ trail, cross the road leading to the former Lom-hegy missile base, and then pass by the boundary stones marking the former border between Szentendre and Pomáz on our way to another saddle. Here, turning onto the P◼ cart track, we descend back to Lajosforrás, thus completing our little loop.

In a light oak forest, switching to the K+ trail, we begin a long, gentle descent. In the Zengő Valley, we meet the oncoming Z trail; we turn left onto it, and after passing János Spring, we head uphill again toward Kő Hill. Passing by rugged andesite cliffs, we reach the plateau covered in rocky meadows and groves. The comfortable trail running along the edge of the plateau soon reaches the Petőfi Rest Area lookout point, where we find a national flag and a memorial. The latter commemorates the poet’s visit on September 23, 1845.

The rocky mountainside isn’t very high, but it drops steeply toward the Danube Valley—specifically, the Great Plain—so the panorama stretches far into the distance. Its main features include Pomáz, which lies below us; the Pilis Mountains near the capital; the Buda Hills; and a few distinctive buildings in Budapest itself, such as the MOL Tower or the TV tower on Száva Street.

Beyond the iron railing, a few meters away from us, we can see “Napoleon’s Hat,” an interesting rock formation that truly resembles the French emperor’s headgear. Its formation is due to two layers of rock of differing hardness; the more easily erodible layer wears away from beneath the more resistant one, which in turn protects the “neck” to some extent from erosion. These are called mushroom rocks, and there are several of them throughout the country.

The coffee-brown breccia ridges along the rim of Kő-hegy, clearly composed of layers stacked one on top of the other, are formed from material deposited by explosive volcanic eruptions. The foot of the former volcano’s mantle spread out here, where enormous avalanches of debris occasionally cascaded down. The fused, harder blocks withstood erosion more successfully than their surroundings; moreover, Kő-hegy later rose above the surrounding landscape. Erosion slowly carved the hardest rock blocks out of their surroundings, and when the Danube appeared in the region, it carved steep slopes into the sides of Kő-hegy, causing landslides and rockfalls. The resistant rock ridge of Kő-hegy is also a remnant of such a collapse. The flat plain stretching out below was the Danube’s floodplain in previous centuries; the Szentendre-Pomáz Plain was drained in the 1880s.

At the top and base of Kő-hegy

From here, it’s only a few hundred meters more, as we skirt around the depressions left by a couple of former anti-aircraft batteries—reportedly destroyed by the Soviet Air Force in 1956, so the craters are actually bomb craters. On the unmarked trails nearby, we can take a short detour to the eastern slope of the mountain before arriving at the clearing on Kő-hegy—dotted with benches, tables, and fire pits—next to the János Czibulka mountain hut. A wide selection of food and drinks is available every day of the week, and you can even rent cooking pots or sports equipment—and, of course, stay the night.

Following the S trail marker, we descend from the plateau alongside the seasonal Kő-hegyi Lake. This bowl-shaped depression, which lacks an outlet, was formed by the loose nature of the andesite tuff and mass movements; naturalists have been studying its unique wildlife for more than 100 years. In 2022, researchers from ELTE discovered a new species of green algae here; however, due to droughts that have become increasingly severe since the mid-2020s, water in the lake has become increasingly scarce.

We arrive at a trail junction; Trail S turns left toward the Csepel Spring, while we turn right onto the SΩ trail and continue our hike toward the Vasas Gorge (the names of these two landmarks hint at the workers of Weiss Manfréd Művek, who were frequent visitors to the Kő-hegyi mountain shelter), and after 200 meters, through an increasingly dense and tall forest (mostly beech by this point), we arrive there.

In this rugged, almost mystical ravine—which could easily serve as a movie set—we can walk 30–40 meters between the steep rock walls; however, only experienced hikers should descend into the underground section, and even they should only do so with a headlamp. The walls consist of harder, petrified lava and softer, cemented volcanic ash, which were deposited in layers due to the succession of past volcanic eruptions. The ravine was formed by the landslide of a slope that had been eroded and weakened by streams, when the rock—built up by volcanic debris flows—shifted and split open. The mass movement rearranged the rock mass not only on the surface, so the passages continue deep underground as well. In many places above the cavities, debris that has fallen from above forms a “ceiling.” It is said to have gotten its name from tourists at the Csepel Ironworks—who built an additional story onto the Kő-hegy mountain shelter (just like the nearby Csepel Spring)— but it is more likely that the reddish-colored components cementing the volcanic debris together are the reason behind the name.

Back to the stream

From the Vasas Gorge, we descend along the ZΩ trail into the Sás Valley, joining the Z-marked hiking trail. To the right, the Z● trail branches off, raising false hopes of reaching the Zoltán Spring, whose rusty spout confirms the truth of the sign posted nearby reading “Not drinking water!” Fortunately, we won’t be without a water feature for long: just before the bridge over the Bükkös Stream, turn left onto an unmarked trail, which leads to the Anna Valley Waterfall after a few meters.

The Bükkös Stream is the most significant watercourse in the Visegrád Mountains; in the 19th century, numerous mills were built along it. To drive the millwheel, it was necessary to maximize the power of the water, so canals (“mill ditches”) or dams were often built to allow the water to flow freely. The Anna Valley Waterfall is almost certainly a remnant of the artificial water system of an old mill.

The official trail, marked with a “Z, ” leads out to the Dömörkapu road, and after walking one and a half kilometers on its worn asphalt, we return to our starting point. However, we recommend following the picturesque trail along the Bükkös Stream. At one point, the trail heads up the mountain; here, it’s worth veering off, crossing the stream, and climbing up through the ditches and bushes to reach the paved road. This way, we’ll skip a more tedious stretch.

Near Dömörkapu, but before reaching it, we pass the Dömörkapu Rengeteg complex, which operates as a snack bar and lodging on weekends; We’ll also find a bike storage area and repair shop here, and it serves as a venue for a variety of cultural programs. The owners are László Kollár-Klemencz, a musician and writer, and his wife, Sára Révai, a photographer and reporter.

From here, it’s just a few hundred meters more, and we’ll be back at the Dömörkapu parking lot.