The eastern wall's watchtower

Itinerary

• From Leányfalu, the P trail leads up to the Vörös-kő. A short unmarked section leads to the viewpoint.
• From the Vörös-kő, we follow the P and S trails further, and where they diverge, we continue on the S trail.
• From the mountain base junction, we follow the S+ trail to the right all the way to the center of Tahitótfalu.

Detailed description of the hike

After Zugliget is full...

Our ascent starts on the P trail, back to the Danube. At first, the mountains are not yet visible; instead, we settle for the airy, green streetscape of Leányfalu. Its name is of medieval origin and may refer to inheritance practices related to a property here, but long before that, the Romans also built a watchtower here as part of the limes. Because the volcanic soil is favorable for viticulture, as is the gently rising, sunny terrain, the Romans (and allegedly earlier peoples as well) planted vines on the slope, as did the Hungarians after them. The original village was depopulated during the Turkish era and for a long time only the people of Pócsmegyer frequently crossed the river to tend their vineyards and make wine in their presses, but no permanent population settled. Then, at the end of the 19th century, phylloxera wiped out the grape cultivation, yet it was around this time that Leányfalu's resort area started to revive—due in no small part to bankrupt farmers offering their parceled land for sale. And there were buyers: primarily the contemporary bourgeoisie of Budapest and notable artists who bought houses as holiday homes and built villas on the pleasant plots, connected to the capital by a daily boat service. The first press house acquired in the first wave belonged to Pál Gyulai, a writer and literary historian, later president of the Kisfaludy Society, whose villa (shared with Ignác Szendrey, father-in-law of Sándor Petőfi) was the first in the village and can be seen at No. 11 Gyulai Pál Street (at the start of our hike). As the villa districts of Buda became increasingly crowded, more people bought plots in the riverside village. Among them, perhaps the best known is Zsigmond Móricz, who initially used his newly built house only as a summer home but later moved there permanently. Because the relatively modest-sized villas were not seized during communism, many are still inhabited today by the descendants of the original owners.

The village nestles on the slope with an increasingly tiring climb, and although nothing suggests it now, before the diversion of the Szénégető stream, the Gyulai Pál Street route reached the Danube. The channels of streams descending from the mountains marked the location of many streets. The plateau of Vörös-kő and the massif of Nyerges-hegy absorb the precipitation, which seeps into the fractured volcanic rock network of cracks at the foot of the mountains, where small spring chains fed the streams—at a somewhat wetter climate than today, their power was enough to drive watermills. The long village walk ends when we finally switch to a forest road, and we begin the mountain conquest on steady but restrainedly rising terrain. To the right is a short detour to the Gyulai Pál memorial, which once overlooked the vineyard slopes that often inspired the frequent visitor literary figure. This explains why his father-in-law, Ignác Szendrey, erected a columned, porch-like, wooden beam lookout tower on the spot—the memorial column and resting place are located there.

Up to Vörös-kő

The P trail winds pleasantly through hornbeam-oak forest, sometimes following a ditch, and at one point approaches the Szénégető stream. Water is not guaranteed to glisten here, but the name certainly refers to former charcoal burner camps, which provided an important income to the mountain people for centuries. Soon, at the Vörös Meteor spring, we reach the elevation of the aforementioned spring chain; a rest area has been established nearby. The generally barely trickling water is fed by precipitation absorbed by the mountains, so the spring does not promise a big future. Water moves difficultly in the hard, tight volcanic rocks, but here, at the base of the layered volcanic structure where layers of different densities meet, it surfaces. Leaving the site, we soon cross a patch of coppice forest, and now the edge ridges become visible at close range. This makes clear that a considerable altitude difference must still be overcome to reach Vörös-kő. We reach a junction near which the Rekettyés spring and the pond formed from its water can be visited. Some of the small standing waters that have accumulated in the depressions of the solid andesite are of natural origin, while many were created in the Middle Ages for watering livestock. In winter, they were not only popular skating spots but also provided ice stored in pits dug for preserving food (from both the Rekettyés and Csíkos ponds) for the people of Leányfalu. They stand out as peculiar color spots on the otherwise poor-water slopes and provide shelter for many amphibian species. (Not far from here is the Viktor hut, the ruins of an old hunting cabin in which Kálmán Kittenberger also visited.)

The hiking trail starts to ascend the mountain to the left. At first, a deep path leads under bent trunks, then the corridor flattens, but the slope stiffens: the mountain's suddenly soaring, sunlit nose is inhabited by oak forest, whose canopy sometimes scarcely closes, and on the shallow soil, thin-trunked specimens cling here and there. The particularly demanding climb is eased by switchbacks, and further up the terrain calms. We hike in a beautiful, closed grove, directly along the mountain ridge, until at one point the green opens and the panoramic meadow of Vörös-kő appears with the concrete pillar.

Watchtower on the eastern wall

Walking out to the 521-meter summit, grandiose views open: the Great Hungarian Plain fills almost everything, barely a wave visible is only the Gödöllő Hills. The riverside settlements line up almost contiguous, but much of Budapest is obscured by the southern end of Nyerges-hegy. Behind the foothill forests, one can notice the ribbon of the Danube running around the Szentendre Island, and a defining sight is the scarred massif of Naszály with the cement works of Vác. The "fox" concrete obelisk is the worn remnant of the "Liberation Memorial" inaugurated in 1948: partly chosen for the mountain's name, but also for the conspicuous position even from afar, and until 1989, hikes organized every early April sought it out and wreaths were laid on the structure. (Previously, it was allegedly the firing position of the German artillery on the summit.) The memorial is not without precedent: between Szentendre and Visegrád, it was largely a closed hunting area off-limits to hikers, favored so much by Miklós Horthy that he connected the two settlements with a private road. Rangers and forestry officials were reluctant to see hikers in the area, and movement was only possible with permission and strict restrictions (or not at all). Therefore, the lifting of closures and the opening of the eastern part of the mountain to tourism were also symbolized by the Liberation Memorial.

Let's move a few more meters forward on the path because the real panorama awaits there. The unusually large rain shelter can provide cover for larger groups, with parameters tailored to the April celebrations. Opposite it, barely noticeable, an unmarked path pierces the foliage: let's follow it down! It's only about a 1-minute descent on increasingly rocky terrain, and we arrive at a magnificent viewpoint: the namesake rock's formidable peak. Exposure and depth are accompanied by a rugged surface, so it is recommended to sit on the crafted small bench and enjoy the panorama, which is the real one from here. The impressive mass of Börzsöny with Csóványos emerges, around Naszály rise the many backs of Cserhát, and generally, the ridge of Mátra also appears bluish in the distance.

The unevenness of the rock surface tells of a particularly exciting chapter of Earth's history when intense volcanism began at the edge of the newly formed Carpathian Basin. The Visegrád Mountains' ridge born in this fire is one of the oldest representatives, a member of the volcanic chain extending to the Hargita Mountains of Transylvania. The volcanism, which started about 16 million years ago in a marine environment, mostly spewed andesitic-dacitic rocks onto the surface, and the now gentle-looking mountains may have reached about 1500 meters in height in their youth. On steep bare slopes of the formation, huge, glowing debris avalanches sometimes thundered down; grains and blocks of various sizes welded into hard breccia bands on the mountain then. As the volcanic structure has largely eroded, these resistant rocks often lie on the higher, near-summit parts of the mountain range—erosion has uncovered them from softer surroundings. Among them is Vörös-kő, where we can also notice episodes of the dormant volcano's post-life: due to structural movements, some mountain blocks, including our rock lookout's plateau, have risen.

To the north appears Naszály, and the neighboring Pilis is already built of limestone, sedimentary rock, which lies buried deep under the lava rocks of the Visegrád Mountains. Thermal water rises from it in the deep karst of the Transdanubian Mountains, which is utilized as a result of a 1000-meter drilling at the thermal beach in Leányfalu. After enjoying the clear highlight of our hike and one of Budapest area's most easily accessible, captivating panoramas, we set off for a long and colorful forest walk ahead of us.

Back to the mountainside

The P trail runs near the hilltop edge on a tilted plateau, surrounded by wind-swept oak forest and sheltered woods. At one point on the summit edge, the foliage opens slightly and Naszály reappears, otherwise a closed, dense forest persists. After a junction, we cross a forestry road, then the narrow path winds steeply at first and then with a gentle ascent; mossy stone sea lava rocks lie on the ground for several meters. We climb almost to Kis-Bükk-tető, whose name is explained by the S trail that heads down to the right: the hiking trail serpentines on a steep slope, inhabited by a protected, shaded beech forest enjoying the cool. Here, the mountainside drops at such sharp angles for kilometers that no forest road development was even attempted elsewhere. And it is no longer suitable for vehicles either, mostly covered by twisted stones and broken branches, making walking difficult. Dark rock lies hidden in the gloomy beech forest below. Finally, the slope softens, and we step out of the grove's grip onto a clearing. Looking back, the wall of the mountain ridge is visible, with the green cover torn apart by the summit of Vörös-kő.

Then we walk on the mountain's skirt, in gentle terrain where the Visegrád Mountains merge with the Danube plain. We again turn back toward the ridges in oak forest, then after a few bends arrive at a junction. Along the muddy water erosion bank by the Leány-kút water, we change markings: following the S+ signs, we head toward Tahitótfalu. The terrain near the villages, always easily accessible, has historically been home to livestock keeping or forestry - as the territory name Eresztvény also tells, meaning coppice forest, young growth. Deep water erosion has washed away the sometimes loess surface here, and the path descends through pleasant mixed forest with pine. The fragrant grove disappears as we enter the edge of Tahitótfalu. A long hike follows to a village center with a history eerily similar to Leányfalu. Sometimes streets change to loess paths, and finally, the increasing density of houses signals that we are approaching our destination. The markings lead to the center and the bridge, where we can board a bus.