The edge of the Völgység and the mountain range

Itinerary

• We leave Kismányok on the S◼ sign, which we follow until the junction beyond the cornfield at the edge of the village.
• After the cornfield we turn right onto an unmarked dirt road.
• At the next junction we turn left onto another dirt road, which crosses the top of Pásztor Hill.
• We join the S+ sign, cross the pastures, and descend to the park forest lakes of Váralja.
• At the lakes we turn right onto the K+ sign that leads to the edge of Váralja.

Detailed description of the route

Mountain in the distance

Kismányok is located at the edge of the Völgység, embraced by the smoothing hills of the Mecsek, with grassy fields rising behind its beautiful street view. After being destroyed by the Turks, Germans settled in the area but were deported after World War II. Bukovina Székelys arrived in their place, marked by the Roman Catholic church built in 1988, originally intended to be a pilgrimage site for their nearby community. Interestingly, before Emperor Joseph II's tolerance decree guaranteeing freedom of religion, only Kismányok had a Protestant church in the Völgység.

We cross the village following the long street along the S◼ sign, finally starting our climb to the hills through a cornfield. Looking back, we can see the village nestled in the valley, while in front of us vast grassy pastures roll. At a flattening point, at a junction, we turn right onto an unmarked dirt road that leads nearly level to the corner of a tree group. A very steep climb follows on the left, at the top of which the bike track turns right and continues uphill. The rolling hills on the edge of the Völgység and Mecsek are built of rock fragments crushed by ancient seaside wave action, partly sand and gravel; therefore, instead of crop cultivation, locals regarded them mostly as areas for livestock grazing and mowing over centuries. Climbing higher, wider views open up; beyond the mountain-edge villages lies a huge, flat region, with the dark forest ribbon of the Szekszárd Hills also visible. The hills are intersected by a lively, but fine valley network, as rainwater easily carves ditches into the soft surface. Mining of the mountain's northern side for coal began in these furrows. Upon reaching the top of Pásztor Hill, the panorama does not end but changes: now we see the Eastern Mecsek massif, with Zengő peak rising above the forested fields.

Alpine atmospheres at the forest edge

The S+ sign appears from under the trees at the edge of the clearing (we could ascend from the village this way, but it is a viewless loess path), and stepping on it, we continue the hike under the trees. The acacia, a key species of the mixed culture forest, was planted on previously cleared areas with easily eroding loess and sandy surfaces often disturbed by the wind. Later, Scots pines are densely mixed among the deciduous trees, and the needle-carpeted trail leads to the edge of a large pasture meadow. Here we keep left on the sign, and in the distance, steadily taller and more stately peaks tower as a multitude in the mountain range. The beautiful views never cease, and after crossing a narrow forest strip, the landscape opens: we can enjoy the entire northern hill country foreland of the Eastern Mecsek. The picturesque stretch of road squeezed between electric fences undulates along the ridge between open pastures and hayfields and offers an uninterrupted panorama of hills dotted with hunting stands and groups of trees. On a high point overlooking the Völgységi Stream plain, a small residential tower once stood from the 13th century, which gave Váralja its name.

The sign then turns right; facing us, the sight of grazing herds and a pen evokes the image of alpine shepherding on the grassy hillside. At a pine grove corner, the path calls left and downhill, descending through an oak forest to the Váralja park forest lakes. Former stormwater reservoirs have been turned into fishing lakes — one side shaded by the forest, the other lined with shelters and fire pits designed for lively weekend excursions. To the right, on the K+ sign, we pass the entrance to the youth camp; the valley narrows, and after a cattle pasture, holiday homes dot the forest.

Following the coal trail

The sturdy concrete road surface suggests it was designed for heavy traffic. Alongside the valley’s coal mines served by “laden” trucks, from the early 20th century, a narrow-gauge railway transported coal to the main line, then to the Nagymányok briquette factory, until uneconomical mining ceased in 1962. The nearby Mining Museum (also a mining memorial site) is visitable with prior registration. The coal mining tradition here spans centuries: it was precisely in the local valleys that the mining of the mountain’s northern side began. The coalfield beneath the Mecsek, though less thick to the northeast than elsewhere, has the highest heating value there. Magmatic bodies pushed toward the thinning Cretaceous ocean floor; not all reached the surface, many remaining buried and 'mixed' within sediments. The hot melt locally coked coal layers, but the complexity of the folded rock plates in the mountain (coupled with varied lithology) complicated extraction, which was spatially and temporally discontinuous since the late 18th century: Váraja was surrounded by numerous tunnels marking periods of both success and outright failed attempts. Miners often encountered hard magmatic or carbonate rock layers between coal seams, which early technology struggled or failed to penetrate.

At the end of our hike, we emerge from the forested valley onto the long-stretching Váralja, where we find the bus stop at its gateway.