The modest superlatives of the Eastern Vértes

Itinerary

• We follow the P mark from the Szár railway station to the Körtvélyes junction.
• We take a detour on the P▲ mark to the geodetic measuring tower.
• We continue on the P mark, then turn left onto the Z mark near the Szép Ilonka spring.
• Upon reaching the Fáni valley, we continue along the S mark towards the left.
• We walk back on the S mark to the Szár railway stopping place.

Details about the route

From Szár to the Vértes

The settlement of Szár lies on the edge of the Vértes, along an important transport corridor. Located at the opening of the railway cut passing through the low hills on the banks of the Sósi stream, Szár is now slowly growing due to its natural environment and proximity to the capital, but has been repeatedly reborn from its ruins. It was depopulated during the Turkish era, a situation remedied by resettlement with Germans and Slovaks by the owners of the area. Due to later deportations and population exchanges, most of them have mostly disappeared from the village, and in addition, the front line during the end of World War II also destroyed Szár. Therefore, little trace of the former lifestyle can be found in the newly built settlement.

From the railway platforms, we follow the P mark walking on asphalt through forest belts, so be careful due to the winding route and traffic! After a junction, we re-enter the village area. We do not stay long on the main street because turning off it we head towards the Vértes. At the edge of Szár, industrial halls give way to a fenced pasture, beyond which rises the rocky, cross-adorned Zuppa hill. Entering the forest, we proceed on a wide path along the edge of the mountains, later turning onto a concrete road. The forestry exploration road crosses the mountains, and at the end of our hike, we will walk a long stretch along the Fáni valley section.

Besieging Körtvélyes

Turning right from the asphalt onto the dense forest, we begin our ascent to the plateau closing the Vértes from the east, which contains the highest points of the range. Initially, we walk through a well-used forest composed of a mosaic of harvested and growing stands, with the most beautiful part being the rocky grassland clearing on the side of Kis-Szállás hill. From here, looking back, we can see as far as the Velence Hills. The forest then changes: we are surrounded by a beautiful grassy oak forest with old trees. Approaching Körtvélyes, we pass through a clear-cut area followed by an extremely closed, dark, deadwood-carpeted forest section. Judging by the signs, there is abundant game here, especially a high density of wild boar wallows.

The highest panorama of the Vértes

Shortly, the P▲ forks left, upon which by walking only a few minutes while dodging fallen trees and broken branches, we can reach the geodetic tower on foot. Built in 1984, the measuring tower stands on the Vértes's second highest point, but the 480-meter Körtvélyes does not distinguish itself much topographically from its surroundings. The dark, hollow, dilapidated concrete cylinder is marked with a sign that climbing is prohibited and life-threatening; accordingly, its interior is in a truly alarming state. The damp metal floors and ladders are covered with thick rust, so entry is unfortunately forbidden for now.

From the top—if the building is ever renovated—the structure and landscape of the Vértes will be well visible: forested, gently undulating plateaus and ridges lie behind each other, separated by small ditches and valleys. We do not find peaks or sharp protrusions in any direction, but there are many clearcuts and wildlife fields. The Nagy-Csákány prominence is visible to the northeast, behind which the ridges of Gerecse also appear. Leaving the tower behind, we return to the P mark!

Below the plateau

We start on a barely descending road, under which the young forest torn by the winds arches like a tunnel. Then we travel along a long section beside growing brushwood, afterwards passing through a meadow, then back into the forest. Upon reaching a junction, we must turn left, down a short dry valley cut into the plateau edge. Near its lower end stands a small forest shrine. The western edge of the Nagy-Csákány plateau is a sharply defined, approximately straight northwest-southeast fault line. Precipitation water seeping into the depths surfaces here along the edges of the ditch in sparse chains of springs, one of which is the nearby Szép Ilonka spring, where a short path allows a detour. Beside the stone enclosure there are also a fireplace and a shelter from the rain.

From the spring, we begin a new ascent on the Z mark: we tackle the next ridge, where, peculiarly, the slender beech with silver trunks appears abundantly in the lower part of the range. The deep, shadowed, moist microclimate between these edges of the Vértes is suitable for the beech. We cross another low ridge and pass through a young dense brushwood tunnel on the far side. Thicker trees make up the next forest section, from which stepping left we find another wildlife field—across which above the eastern plateau scarp stands the perfectly straight shape of the Körtvélyes geodetic tower. After larger cleared areas, we turn into the Sárkányluk valley. The most atmospheric and memorable section of the hike is just a few hundred meters, and although it has no special geological formations, it is all the more spectacular. Above our winding path is a forest canopy, and below the namesake cave hollow the valley narrows into a gorge-like shape.

From the Fáni valley to the fields

After a meadow, the side slopes diverge, and finally, we turn left onto the asphalt of the Fáni valley. (It is said to be named after Countess Franciska Esterházy.) At the junction stands the memorial of Károly Hirczy, built of natural stone by his fellow hikers. The tectonically and erosionally deepened, very popular gorge-like valley among hikers is somewhat destroyed by the asphalt, but we can still admire dolomite rocks protruding from the walls with several small caves. The area's uniqueness is that the rock ridges with southern and northern exposures offer shelter for both glacial relic plants and warm-loving species on the opposite side due to significant differences in their microclimates. At the road junction, we can take a short about 5-minute detour to the unmarked upper branch, and from its bend, climbing up the ridge offers a nice view of the Fáni valley stretching southeast.

Along the S mark, following a long concrete sidewalk, we emerge from the realm of trees and find ourselves among widely spread agricultural fields. The dirt road passes through the fields; looking back or to the left, the Vértes looks much more like a gentle hilly landscape than a mountain range. We wind for a long time under the blazing sun; in wintertime, travelers also face mud traps on the dirt roads. The S mark leads us to Szár's long main street, where a bus stop on the corner offers travel options home, but the hiking trail also guides us back to the railway station.