The best of the Sopron hills

Itinerary

• Follow the Z▲ marker to the Várhely lookout.
• From the lookout we return on the Z▲ marker to the nearby meadow, briefly switching to the Cyclamen nature trail KT marker, where we turn left onto the hiking trail marked with K.
• Follow the K marker straight to where the K● markers join, from there continue straight onto the K+ marker.
• Turn right onto the K+ marker, which connects with the K markers.
• Follow the combined K+ and K markers straight ahead.
• Turn left onto the K+ marker, which guides you along the Tolvaj-ditch until the end point of the route.

Detailed description of the route

Up to Várhely

Turning our back on the road, crossing a long meadow, we head into the depths of the Tolvaj-ditch, but we still have to wait for the wild valley’s excitement: before the Béla spring and the base of the former lodge (where there is also a barbecue area), we turn left and immediately tackle the most tiring section of our route on the Z▲ marker.

We wander through a very special forest, where oak mixes with Scots pine, a combination rarely encountered. Treading on twisted cones, we ascend sometimes gently, sometimes steeply, alongside our transverse path flanked by the sidewalls of the Tolvaj-ditch. Barely noticeable, we cross the moat of the Várhely Iron Age earthwork, which we briefly follow; when we reach a clearing and a fork where we turn left, the structure becomes identifiable.

The hiking trail crosses two parallel, huge, elongated ridges: these are the ramparts of an Iron Age Hallstatt culture settlement, notable for their size even by European standards. One main trade route of the era, the Amber Road, reached the Carpathian Basin at the base of the Sopron Mountains, so this earthwork likely had great significance. The culture named after the Austrian Hallstatt site spread from central France to Transdanubia between the 8th and 5th centuries BCE; its success was due to the widespread, mass use of iron tools and the rise of iron smelting. The exceptionally large earthwork has been thoroughly excavated, and high-quality information boards in the area help enrich our knowledge.

View at the border of worlds

A few meters ahead, we turn left and with one final push arrive at the highest point of our tour, the impressive Várhely lookout standing at 482 meters. Since the summer of 2023, it has been closed due to deterioration, but hopefully it will be renovated and reopened to the public in time.

From the top, the Sopron area around fully unfolds, this unique corner of Hungary: although the terrain is unusually restless, the small and inhabited basins are barely raised above their surroundings by densely divided ridges. The landscape is further enriched by the huge water mass of Lake Fertő, the wide green mantle of the forests of the Sopron Mountains, and there is also a special visual element.

Three worlds meet in our field of view: to the east, the Little Hungarian Plain with its patchwork fields introduces the great plains of the Carpathian Basin; to the north, (in clear weather) the crest of the Little Carpathians appears from the mist, whose ridge runs from Dévény to the Lower Danube. Looking west, behind low hills, the dark limestone monstrosities of Schneeberg (2076 m) and Rax (2007 m) crowned by Klosterwappen, representatives of the high alpine world, are visible. You can also spot Vienna’s other well-known hiking paradise, the Hohe Wand plateau, or the “hump” of the Vienna Woods.

With the location, topography, climate, and natural features of these three completely different landscapes (the Alps, the Carpathians, and the Carpathian Basin), they provided different living conditions and development paths for the peoples inhabiting them, so it is no exaggeration to say we are looking out at borderlands of cultures and worlds. (On truly clear days, with binoculars, two capitals come into view: Vienna and Bratislava. The southern panel housing district of the latter, Petržalka, is visible to the naked eye. Its size is indeed unique: it is Central Europe’s largest panel housing complex.) The lookout has towered on Várhely since the end of the 19th century; the structure has of course been replaced several times since.

The atmosphere of pine forests

Taking our leave of the ceaseless dance of the wind turbines, we descend to the already mentioned clearing (briefly walking on the Cyclamen nature trail KT signs) and continue our route straight on the K marker. Ahead stands Bella Lajos, the monument to the researcher of the Várhely graves and earthworks, beside which is the rest area named after him. It’s no ordinary spot: next to the man-made fire pit is stacked wood, benches and tables, a hut without a door, and toilets further back. On the left appears a strange mound beckoning with a wooden-edged corridor: it is an excavated and reconstructed Iron Age (female) burial mound, whose companions were also found in the area. Closer to it, beyond a fence, you can see some artifacts. (Holding down a switch lights up the interior tools.)

Alongside the burial mound, we continue our way on the K marker – though unseen, a whole cemetery accompanies the forest path. We cross a beautiful and graceful black pine patch; in its shade, an information board informs us that this altitude-loving species is native to the Sopron Mountains. Admire the slender, old trees, as on this low terrain the drying and warming associated with climate change likely do not promise a long future for this rare species. Soon we reach a fork, and with a short straight section (on the K● markers) join the K+ hiking trail, where we turn right. (From here to the end, it will be our guide.)

A few hundred meters later, after a right turn, we step under a dark spruce forest – in the Sopron hills, conifers have a long history, with some species being relics from the cool periods following the Ice Age and heralds of the Alps chain. Scots pine and black pine settled here naturally (thousands of years ago), though some sources suggest the spruce on north-facing slopes in the western extremes is not due to humans. (Although the forest along our route apparently sharply separates from its environment.) The mixed deciduous and coniferous associations are a defining, characteristic visual and atmospheric element of the mountain range.

A wide forest road tempts down into the Tolvaj-ditch, but upon reaching its bottom at a plank-supported ford, it disappears, and we must continue on the narrower but much more atmospheric path.

The most beautiful valley of the Sopron Mountains, the Tolvaj-ditch

The bubbling stream beside us has cut into the crystalline slate block of Ultra Mountain, sawing deeper into the hard rock with its sediment. Descending, it has carved steep walls revealing a little-known rock: gneiss. This Alpine mountain-building rock transformed from granite under immense pressure and heat at depth, like the surrounding metamorphic rocks. Visually less layered than the parallel “leaf-like” slates.

The route initially clings closely to the stream bed, winding through a gorge-like ditch. Then the path forks – whichever way we go, if it’s not too muddy or the bed is passable, staying on the valley floor is worth it. The marker briefly climbs up the west side before descending again – ropes provide handholds on the slippery ground here. Sometimes the ditch narrows considerably, and the canopy closes overhead.

The forests here obviously have varied species and age compositions, with deadwood providing shelter on steep slopes. Forestry spared the vegetation here not only due to difficult access caused by slope angle: on the slates (due to mineral composition) mostly acidic, thin topsoils develop, further worsened by erosion, ie the downward washing of particles – to protect the valley from this, forestry avoids the trees, since roots provide stability on steep banks, and fallen branches enrich the soil with vital humus.

We cross the winding stream on several small footbridges until we finally reach the familiar Béla spring. The previously crossed elongated clearing leads out to the road, marking the end of our tour.