The shortest circular route to Írott-kő

Itinerary

• From the Hármashatár-hegy parking lot, we head west on the K▲ trail.
• We take a detour to the Hörmann Spring.
• At the spring, we turn south onto the K trail and follow it all the way to the Írott-kő.
• From the lookout, we descend following the other branch of the K trail.
• When it breaks south, we continue the hike on the K+ trail back to the parking lot.

Detailed description of the hike

Up to Írott-kő

From the Hármashatár-hegy parking lot, we head west on the K▲ trail. Shortly after the forestry barrier, we arrive at the Hörmann Spring on the right side of the road, which is the highest water source in the Kőszegi Mountains, springing at 713 meters. It was originally called Csarmas-kút, but in the 18th century it received its current name after the tragic fate of the captain Hörmann Mihály, about whom several stories circulate. According to one, Miklós Jurisics, castle captain, sent him on a secret reconnaissance mission, during which the Turks captured and skinned him alive at this spring. Another version says it was his idea as a method of execution if someone allied with the Turks. However, one time the enemy bribed him, for which he received the punishment he devised himself. Historical sources do not support the existence of a soldier named Hörmann during Jurisics's time.

Another legend says that in 1620, the imperial troops attacked the Kőszeg castle with overwhelming force, and in the hopeless situation, a hero named Hörmann Mihály ignited the remaining gunpowder to prevent it from falling into the attackers' hands. Hörmann fled, but the enemy eventually caught him at Csarmas-kút and skinned him alive on May 27, 1621. His memory is preserved by the Hörmann Stone erected in 1971 in Kőszeg Castle Park, and a dagger allegedly used to carry out this sentence is still visible among the castle walls.

From the spring, we continue south on the K trail, which starts uphill through a dense, dark spruce forest on a steep path bordered by the signs of the Írott-kő nature trail. The 20 stations presenting the settlements and excursion sites of the Írottkő Nature Park accompany us for 2 km all the way to the summit. After a sharp right turn, the forest changes to beech woods. Above the logged southern side of the Hármashatár ridge, we get a panorama towards Szombathely and the Little Hungarian Plain. On the right, black alder marks the ridge’s slightly fertile, acidified soil exhausted over centuries. This pioneering tree species is one of the most important raw materials for plywood and veneer production, but boxes, crates, sports and musical instruments (e.g., guitars, piano parts) are also made from it. It is also recognized as a medicinal plant because tea made from its leaves regulates kidney function well, has diuretic effects, and is used to treat cystitis. Its bark is a good fever reducer, and its tapped sap strengthens the immune system. In folk medicine, its juice, known as viricske, was long used to expel kidney sand and small kidney stones.

On the left grows a red pine forest, followed by a few poplar pines alongside the road, heralding a forest association otherwise only known in Hungary from the Kőszegi Mountains, the poplar pine-beech forests. After a spruce forest, we reach the resting area below the Írott-kő summit, where a comfortable rain shelter awaits us.

On the top of Transdanubia

The highest point of Transdanubia was called Fenyő-hegy in the 13th century, and from the 17th century it was known as Szálkő. Its current name comes from a quartz phyllite rock standing about 40 meters from the lookout on the Austrian side, on which once clearly readable "C" "B" "E" markings stood. The letter series likely abbreviates Confinia Batthyányiana Esterházyana, which means Batthyány-Esterházy border in Hungarian, but the sequence also calls to mind the name of Comes Batthyány Elemér.

In 1891, locals built a wooden lookout on the summit, named Árpád on the occasion of the millennium, but it had to be dismantled in 1908 due to poor condition. In its place, a stone tower was erected in 1913, which after World War II and during the Iron Curtain decades could be accessed only from the Austrian side. Notably, the state border runs exactly through the middle of the tower, as also shown by the border stone set up inside.

From the building renovated in 2010, in clear weather you can even see as far as Lake Balaton, which glimmers south of the Bakony Mountains between the witness hills of the Tapolca Basin. Further south are the Keszthely Mountains and Rendek Hill, followed by the Zala Hills. Looking southwest, if the weather is very clear, the peaks of the Kamnik Alps also appear, but the Schneeberg and Wechsel, the first eastern two-thousanders of the Alps, are apparently the highest beyond the surrounding area alongside the hiding Rax. The lower, yet striking rock faces of Hohe Wand are generally visible from the upper level as well. To the north, you can see Vienna and the Leitha Mountains dotted with wind turbines behind Lake Neusiedl.

Back to the parking lot

From the rest area, we continue on the right branch of the K trail along the route of the South Transdanubian Blue Trail. After a slope covered with dense spruce forest, we descend further into beech woods, then bypass a clear-cut area from the south. During clear-cutting, the entire mature forest stand is harvested so that the roots of the cut trees remain in the soil, somewhat mitigating the increased erosion and deflation caused by vegetation loss until the regrowth sprouts. This is the most cost-effective method of forest regeneration, but it also has many disadvantages. Besides being harmful to most of the area's wildlife, it considerably increases erosion until saplings grow, dries the microclimate, and increases the susceptibility to windthrow in forest sections adjacent to clear-cut areas.

We pass a hay rack, then a sharp turn where the K trail turns right, heading south, and we switch to the K+ trail. After a small initial climb, we cover about 1 km on a gently sloping path, then when the trail sharply turns left, we start climbing again. Here we also pass a logged stand, from which there is a view towards the Little Hungarian Plain. A pleasant slope leads back to the parking lot through a spruce forest.