The memory of the Bakony forest: From Fenyőfő to Kőris-hegy

Itinerary

• From Fenyőfő, we follow the Z marking to the entrance of the Bécsi-árok.
• Across the Bécsi-árok, we climb along the Z+ marking to the foot of Kőris-hegy.
• At the junction on Tűzkő-hegy, turn right onto the P marking, which leads to Kőris-hegy.
• We descend on the P marking and follow it all the way to the junction at the end of Hálóvető-árok.
• Turning left, we return to Fenyőfő on the Z marking.

Detailed description of the route

In the region of Fenyők

Fenyőfő is tidy and green, with the baroque-style church standing at the focus of its main street, which evokes market squares. It’s not easy to turn your back on the unusually uniform village image, but the Z marking soon rewards our efforts: at the edge of the village, turning left onto a sandy tire track, across what seems like endless pastures, our distant destination, the Kőris-hegy and its group appear. It seems low, as it rises from an already plateau-like terrain, but don’t be deceived by the view, a tough climb awaits us to the summit.

Soon, a fragrant, winding pine forest encloses us. The ancient pine forest formed 12,000 years ago, after the Ice Age warming, when the mountain pine began spreading in the Carpathian Basin. On the humus-poor sandy soil scattered by northern winds, deciduous species later could not push back the pine forest community – medieval humans were the only ones capable of this. After the Turkish invasion, German-speaking settlers brought to Fenyőfő stabilized the sand by planting pines: they used seeds from remaining forest patches and seedlings from Austria.

In the thickets of gullies

We cover the first kilometers in mixed associations, not a windbreak forest but a varied-aged, shaded forest shaped also by its location. A long, pleasant roller coaster ride begins. Looking at the map, it is striking that this area is segmented by countless short, steep-walled gullies on the northern slopes of Bakony, but water is nowhere to be found at their bottoms. The gravel and sand on the surface were spread by rivers and wind during the Ice Age; some originate from times when Bakonyalja formed the shoreline of an emerging mountain massif from a marine environment. In a different climate than today, streams sourced from springs along the plateau's edge carved small valleys in these soft layers, whose lower ends we cross during our hike. The terrain is further segmented, and frozen waves form from sand originally folded by the wind in ridges; along these ridges, partially open, pleasantly sloping meadows stretch out in many places.

The steep-walled, narrow gullies and northern exposure create unique microclimates: cool-loving and sun-loving, mountain and lowland species appear in close proximity. Along this surprisingly atmospheric section, we pass by the Schandl cross and its rest (commemorating a member of the namesake family), and touch the edge of a small quarry. We overcome increasing elevation differences until we reach the gateway of Bécsi-árok. The left-branching Z+ marking offers a long section of pleasant walking, only challenging at the very end – in exchange, it offers the most beautiful, wild section of our hike, a piece of the former Bakony forest's atmosphere. (As long as significant logging does not occur: at the time of the hike [autumn 2018], the valley was refreshingly dense and closed forest, but the presence of machinery and saw noises from various directions is an ominous sign.)

In Bécsi-árok's enchanted forest

The landscape changes: Bécsi-árok is a closed, dark shade region. The long corridor developed along the fault line separating dolomite and limestone blocks, deepened by a long-gone seasonal stream. The cool, northern slope is covered by a vast beech forest. The windbreak forest is patched in places (mainly in smaller side valleys) with natural stands: at these points, ancient trees, deadwood lying on the green carpet formed by young trees, and dense, hard-to-penetrate forests guard the now transformed, impassable wild wood, the image of the Bakony forest. The forest area, dotted with whitening rocks, has a magical, wild atmosphere that becomes more beautiful as we progress. Eventually, the sidewalls narrow and the ground vegetation completely covers the soil, as in the loosely planted forest a multitude of sunbeams reach the ground. We follow a scarcely trodden, difficult-to-follow trail climbing now on the limestone block slope of Kőris-hegy. Higher up, the forest image calms somewhat, cut through by roads carrying wind beech timber.

On Kőrisek mountain

We turn right onto the P marking and with one last effort push through windy montane beech forest to the slope below the summit. The 709-meter peak hosts two structures: a radar station for air traffic control and the Vajda Péter lookout tower (named after the Bakony poet, writer, and naturalist of the 19th century). Since 1920 the tower has served nature walkers; it was rebuilt in 1962 and is now overdue for a thorough renovation, as the growing tree crowns obstruct the view in several directions (also limited by the radar dome). To the north and west, the landmark hills of the Little Hungarian Plain appear alongside the rolling hills of Sokoró with Pannonhalma abbey building. The character of the Bakony landscape beautifully unfolds: looking towards Zirc, an almost flat landscape unfolds, at the plateau edge forested hills rise, and the terrain altitude compared to the Little Hungarian Plain is clearly visible. In the distance, the hills of Papod fade into the haze, to the south the Kab-hegy barely peeks out. (The Kőszegi Mountains rise behind the radar dome, but can only be seen in clear weather.)

The P marking carries us downhill. After a steep slope, we aim for the wide ridge of Kőris-hegy’s northern spur. We cross Tűzkő-hegy, named after the hard, splintery rock that originated from marine sponges with siliceous skeletons, which prehistoric humans often used for fire-starting and weapon crafting. Logging traces are more evident here: clearings, young stands alternate along the reinforced forestry road. A detour is possible on a ridge descending to the left to the ramparts of a Bronze Age hillfort (with significant altitude loss). The P marking crosses meadows, then descends. The forest becomes more varied again; according to the map, a former shelter stood on the slope (Noszlopy hut, aka Zabolai Pál house), which gradually flattens out. At the edge of the Zabola forest, named after the Szapolyai family from Porva, we reach the corner of Csárda-tető, where a beautiful, spacious pasture borders the forest – walking a bit out we can admire the slopes towards Nagy-Som-hegy. (There used to be a tavern here.)

In the footsteps of Hálóvetők

After a short while, we turn left and start the last stretch of our hike on a stone-coated road. The P marking leaves the forestry road to the right – here, going straight on offers the possibility to shorten the route back towards Fenyőfő. The terrain is characterized by a varied micro-relief with gently undulating ground. Finally, we enter Hálóvető-árok, which no longer poses a challenge for our tired legs. The valley name refers to the pine shoot hunting traps typical to Fenyőfő, where small game was usually caught with nets stretched across the paths. On the gently widening valley floor, steps become softer as sand appears. Looking left behind the trees, the Lyukaskő cliff signals that we are in a karst region – however, its entrance has been blocked by a landslide. As a closing, we pass the ancient pine forest again. At a junction, we turn left onto the Z marking which exits onto the Fenyőfő access road and leads back to the center around the church.