To the hidden lookouts of the Buda Hills via Remete Gorge

Itinerary

• We start from the bus stop along Ördögárok Street, following the K● mark northwest.
• Then continuing in the same direction, we follow the K mark joining from the right through the Remete Gorge.
• Approaching the upper end of the gorge, we climb up a short, unmarked path on the right to the Remete Cave.
• Returning to the K mark, we continue along it, then together with the mark we climb a strenuous slope to the lookout point opening on the side of Remete Hill (this detour can be skipped).
• From the lookout, we descend back into the gorge on the K mark, then turn right onto the K◼ mark, passing through Bodzaliget Rest Park and walking through Remeteszőlős.
• Crossing Nagykovácsi Road, we switch to the P+ mark and climb to the highest point of our hike on the side of Vörös-pocsolyás Ridge.
• Here we turn left on the P mark and stay on it, passing the Petneházy Meadow and then Fekete-fej until Szépjuhászné road.
• From there, we continue hiking on the P+ mark branching left.
• Before Nagykovácsi Road, we switch over to the S↺ mark and walk across the Hűvösvölgy Great Meadow to Villám Street, which we climb to reach Fazekas Hill.
• The rock summit is reached via the K▲ mark.
• From the lookout point, returning to the path, we follow the K▲ mark.
• Joining the K mark, turning left, we reach the end point of our hike, the terminus of the Children’s Railway at Hűvösvölgy.

Detailed description of the hike

Along a devilish little stream

We start walking northwest from the BKK Szirom Street bus stop along Ördögárok Street (K● mark). Máriaremete, where we are, is part of Budapest today but was formerly an independent large village until 1950, belonging to Pesthidegkút. “Hidegkút” is an old place; its name in an old form already appears in a 1255 document when King Béla IV donated the area to the Dominican nuns of Margaret Island – among them was Saint Margaret, his daughter. Therefore, the legend that the name came from King Matthias, who once found the spring water at the foot of Remete Hill especially refreshing and liked to hunt at “Hidegkút,” is unfounded. The well does exist and was interestingly once known as “Hand Well” because allegedly a local landowner broke his hand by falling into it. During the Turkish period, the village became depopulated and was only repopulated in 1711 by German settlers.

Soon, at Méh Street, we first meet the Ördög-árok stream. From this nowadays only seasonal and regulated flow with a 65 km² catchment, one would not imagine its former raging power and tragic episodes linked to Budapest’s history. The main branch coming from Nagykovácsi (which at the Great Meadow in Hűvösvölgy is joined by a tributary starting at Julianna-major) sinks into an artificial tunnel at Riadó Street in Budapest and flows underground beneath Városmajor, Vérmező, Horváth-kert, and Tabán unnoticed, finally joining the Danube after leaving Döbrentei Square. Today many do not even know about it, but it caused huge destruction in 1838 and 1875 when it overflowed after particularly intense cloudbursts. The 1838 Danube flood is well known, the later one less so, although the creek’s suddenly bursting vault collapsed earlier, sweeping away houses built over it together with their residents. According to contemporary reports, “Vérmező and Kelenföld looked like a sea,” and the great river carried bodies even at Paks, while in the upper section the gently flowing water moved huge rock blocks that could only be removed by blasting later. The peculiarity is the fact that the Danube-side end of Ördög-árok was covered two years earlier mainly because the creek served as a sewage canal and wound unpleasantly smelling among city houses. The last part of the tunnel extending to Városmajor was completed only by 1920, and Ördög-árok continued to carry a significant part of Budapest’s sewage until the completion of Csepel Central Sewage Treatment Plant in 2009.

The creek’s medieval name also refers to its “hellish” destructions because such capricious watercourses often gained the “devilish” attribute when they stealthily and periodically escaped their beds. Incidentally, after a former main monastery of the Pauline order near present-day Szépjuhászné, it was called Paulus Creek and Saint Paul’s Arch, and due to its origin near Nagykovácsi, also Kovácsi Creek.

Caves everywhere

Following the bed through a cool hornbeam-oak forest, we leave Máriaremete’s buildings and now enter the lower section of Remete Gorge embraced by Hosszú-erdő Hill and Remete Hill on the national blue trail K mark. A sign warns that we are in a strictly protected natural area – therefore, we cannot leave the marked trails until we exit the gorge on the opposite side from Remeteszőlős.

We walk along a forest trail often used by dog walkers and hikers; on our right, the deep, moss-covered rocky creek bed only reveals the creek’s hidden power by large stone blocks. It is worth stopping at the 2020 renovated information boards of the Remete Gorge nature trail, then at a moss-covered, tilted limestone slab on the left where we find a memorial plaque for Miklós Pápa, a renowned naturalist and devoted protector of Remete Gorge. Shortly after, we reach the unmarked path leading to Remete Cave, branching off right across Ördög-árok, inviting us with a short, root-entwined climb to a grand cavity in a rock cut, one of the most famous sights of the gorge valley.

The strictly protected Remete Cave consists of a 12 m long, 7 m wide chamber and a narrower side branch. Through its wide mouth, enough natural light enters for us to venture inside without a lamp (the entrance is especially slippery in wet weather, so be cautious), and observe the frost-induced cracking at the entrance, the corroded wall surfaces further in, and the upward tapering fissure on the ceiling. The shafts now shelter protected bats, but due to its favorable location and south-facing entrance, the cave was inhabited by humans from the Late Neolithic to the Middle Ages: hearth remains, fire tools, and pottery shards were found inside. Its current name comes from a monk who ostensibly spent his life here after the Pauline order’s dissolution in 1782, although we should note that such legends are widespread for almost every habitable cave.

Geologically, Remete Cave may differ from other caves in the gorge, like the one above at 400 m altitude, Hét-lyuk, the only shaft cave in the Buda Hills, whose phosphate chamber holds several thousand tons of guano, or Remete-hegyi-kőfülke, which, visible from many Budapest lookouts, contains many animal remains. While some of these are cold water (karst) caves, the pot-shaped formations at the entrance of Remete Cave may indicate thermal origin. Its formation has not been conclusively clarified yet – karst origin is possible, and some consider it an inactive spring cave. A total of 19 caves are known in the area; one contains the remains of a 13th-century counterfeiter’s workshop from King Stephen V’s era, including tools and counterfeit silver coins.

From the gorge rim to the one-minute tales

It was once thought that the roughly 1 km long Remete Gorge was a single huge cave that collapsed, but today its formation is attributed to stream erosion. The steep rocky walls rising alongside the path, mostly hidden by foliage, are sedimentary rocks – mostly about 210 million years old, rich in Megalodus shell fossils and well karstified Dachstein limestone. Its fauna is special; with luck, we might see a black woodpecker as well as the green lizard or Pannonian lizard, while caddisflies, stoneflies, and aquatic bugs live in the stream.

To truly appreciate the narrow valley’s real dimensions, follow the K mark to climb its rim. The steep, stone-covered path to Remete Hill near the top is short but strenuous and well worth this small detour, as it offers perhaps the most beautiful panorama of our hike, perfect for catching our breath. Southeast, the ridges of Nagy Hárs, János Hill, and Normafa rise; under us lie the houses of Remeteszőlős. In the distance, we can spot the green dome characteristic of the Military National Security Service base in Budakeszi. On the opposite gorge side, the hump of Hosszú-erdő Hill rises, and looking left from there, behind Széphalom, we glimpse Hármashatár Hill with its distinct radio tower. We are approximately level with Hét-lyuk here but don’t forget that we are in a strictly protected area where for the sake of flora and fauna protection, we must not leave the marked tourist track.

Carefully descend on the well-known steep section of the K mark back to the valley floor, then crossing Ördög-árok, turn right onto the K◼ mark, which will lead us out from the enclosed, secluded gorge environment into the paved world of Remeteszőlős. Luckily, the switch is not too drastic thanks to Bodzaliget Rest Park right on our path where we can first refill our water bottles from the Singing Drinking Fountain (there will be no opportunity to do this again during the hike). Its well has a Roman sarcophagus-like pediment decorated with a coin from the Hadrian era and a replica of a Hungarian conquest-era belt ornament found in Bezeréd, while part of its bricks were made by Swabian craftsmen, symbolizing the diverse history of the area. Beside it, there is an old-fashioned phone booth inspired by István Örkény’s short story “Ballad about the Power of Poetry,” where we can entertain ourselves by listening to one-minute tales. The park also features a barefoot path, a book stop, a teqball table, a pétanque court, a playground across the stream, and even two mobile toilets.

A quiet forest walk

Leaving Bodza Grove, we briefly walk on the asphalt of the Patak Walkway, passing below streets named after fish species climbing to Remete Hill before crossing Nagykovácsi Road leftward, bypassing photos placed by Táltos School, then re-entering the forest on the P+ mark. The next more than 3.5 km is the quietest part of our hike: we walk on rarely frequented, peaceful paths to Petneházy Meadow. After leaving a wildflower meadow, we look back to Remete Hill and Hosszú-erdő Hill and to the Remete Gorge between them, climbing 145 m elevation on the side of Kecske Ridge, ascending to the highest point of our route, the top of Vörös-pocsolyás Ridge among oak trees. As is typical in the Buda Hills, the oak here doesn’t appear alone but mixed with sessile oak. When we join the P mark and turn left, the vegetation changes: we begin descending along the southern slopes through a pubescent oak-flowering ash karst shrub forest on a path sometimes decorated with rock outcrops.

A brief section along a power line clearing leads us onto an asphalt road briefly, then together with the mark, we turn back into the woods along a ditch. On the right, at the foot of Hársbokor Hill, a fragrant meadow spreads in timeless peace, a wide window to surrounding hills: although not at high altitude, we can spot János Hill against the background of straw bales, and if we walk slightly down, Nagy Hárs Hill also fully reveals itself, crowned with the whimsical Kaán Károly lookout tower.

We walk past the colorful patches of thistles favored by butterflies in the forest’s shade, reaching Petneházy Meadow after a few minutes. A popular hiking destination for Budakeszi and Hűvösvölgy residents, it was named by the city council in 1847 after Dávid Petneházy, who according to legend was the first to scale the castle during Buda’s recapture in 1686. The name likely stems from a misconception, as Petneházy (previously a kuruc captain under Imre Thököly) did participate in the siege, but the flag was planted by János Fiáth. The area previously was called Sonnenwirthswiesen, meaning “Sun Inn Meadow” or “Sun Tavern Fields” in Hungarian. If hungry, we can make a short detour to the nearby Petneházy Club Hotel established in 1990, whose restaurant offers meals – though table reservation may be needed during busy times.

A “black head” above the Great Meadow

Crossing the paved road, we begin climbing the mysterious-named limestone peak Fekete-fej ahead. From this direction, a surprisingly steep, rocky path winds up. At the top, we find an ancient iron post once used as a geodetic survey point and, beside it on rocks laid crosswise, a worn-out bench offering views through a narrow gap in the foliage to Kálvária Hill of Solymár and beyond to the rocky ridge of Nagy-Kevély. A lookout once stood here, but now only a Hungarian flag flutters on a tall pole. A pity, as the panorama would probably be splendid here over the Buda Hills.

Fekete-fej is considered a “little brother” of Hárs Hill, so much that late 18th-century German maps still marked it as Kis-Hárs-hegy (Kellner Lindenberg), although the name Schwarzer Kopf appeared then, too. For soil protection and continuous forest cover maintenance, forest management has stopped on the peak for a long time: not only is logging avoided, but dead trees vital for the ecosystem are left standing, allowing a short period of hiking in a semi-natural forest. The flora’s special element is the Hungarian edelweiss blooming in June, a relative of autumn roses more common in Börzsöny and Mátra.

On descent, we follow the P mark instead of the nature trail to Szépjuhászné road (a busy road, so proceed carefully!), then turn off on the P+ mark to the bed of Kis-Ördög-árok. We approach the Hűvösvölgy hiking center, the Great Meadow, on a comfortable forest path. Today it features a running track, forest gym, and playground; in the early 20th century, young people played football here, later an amusement park operated with a carousel, shooting range, and food stalls. The Great Meadow was also an important site for communist organization during the Horthy era: party members met under the guise of hiking, and a central decision later made the builders’ May Day celebrations held here annually.

We bypass the usually busy Great Meadow on the S↺ mark to climb the 281 m high Fazekas Hill via the steep Villám Street. Beneath the summit, a sadly neglected but since 1982 protected quarry reveals the Dachstein limestone composing the hill. From the rocky peak, following the left branch of the K▲ mark, exciting views compensate for the sight. From the narrow WWII bunker spot favored by graffiti artists, we see the Hármashatár Hill group, the distant Pilis Peak, and looking back, the Remete Hill visited earlier, with Nagy Hárs Hill appearing from an unusual angle.

Then only a short walk remains on the K▲ and K marks to reach the terminus of the Children’s Railway and finish our hike at the Hűvösvölgy BKK station.