Tour in the forest of Szentgotthárd Abbey, in the scattered settlements of the Vendek

Itinerary:

• From Hársas Lake we follow the Z trail crossing into the Zsida district.
• From Szentgotthárd, Zsida district, we follow the P trail crossing onto Zsidahegy and the Zsida creek headwaters area.
• From Zsida creek, the P+ trail leads into the border of Apátistvánfalva and to Orfalu, Keresztfa bus stop.
• We arrive in Orfalu on an unmarked paved road, where we continue toward Farkasfa through the Huszászi creek valley.
• Following the Huszászi creek valley, we cross into Farkasfa on an unmarked cart road, intersecting the P and then the Z trails.
• From the border of Farkasfa, the Z trail leads back to our starting point, Szentgotthárd, Hársas Lake bus stop.

Detailed description of the route

At the border of Szentgotthárd, by Hársas Lake and Zsidahegy

We start on the eastern shore of Hársas Lake following the Z trail, in an oak grove park forest. The valley dam was built in the 1980s to regulate the flow of the Hársas creek. The lake is named after József Hárs, the area's forester, and its shore is bordered by oaks and pine forests. It has become a recreational and fishing paradise, with a free beach at the far end where you can swim among the densely forested hills. Along the shoreline path bordered by reeds and water lilies, in an idyllic setting, we tune into the Őrség National Park and the border region of the Rába valley, Vendvidék, and Őrség.

At the end of the lake, we cross the creek on a wooden bridge through a marshy alder grove and start an undulating ride between hill ridges. We climb through clearings from the Hársas creek valley toward Szentgotthárd. We only touch the city’s edge at Zsida district, where we switch from the Z trail to the P trail. Crossing the edge of the forest suburban recreational area and the Zsida creek, we climb through houses to the forest-surrounded Zsidahegy. This garden suburb, occupying the hill ridge above the settlement, is separated from the town by a steep hillside, a typical feature of the western counties’ hilly areas. Almost every settlement has similar areas planted with fruit orchards and vineyards, representing a forced form of farming in this marshy creek valley and steep hillside area that is hard to cultivate. At Zsidahegy, we mainly find residential houses now, as proximity to the city turned this old "vineyard hill" into a residential area. We soon return to the dense forest, then descend again into the upper course of the Zsida creek valley. In the alder and willow forest, we cross the marshy creek valley, where lush vegetation thrives on the always moist valley floor. The bushy, thicket-covered area visibly favors wildlife; all conditions for their well-being are present. The road sides are also sprinkled densely with hunting blinds. It is worth moving quietly here in the creek valley to encounter deer and roe deer.

Entering Vendvidék along Apátistvánfalva and Orfalu farms

While the P trail continues through the creek valley, we climb another hill ridge to reach the next Vendvidék settlement, now following the P+ trail. On the other side, Apátistvánfalva forms from loosely connected farms around the hilltop church that gathers the faithful. Here we hike through the culture of Vendvidék farms; houses, gardens, and plantations mosaic the hills, otherwise covered with groves. We barely cross the village on the P+ trail, leaping over the Hársas creek valley and climbing to the hilltop by a chain of meadows. Those with enough ambition can follow the Hársas creek through Apátistvánfalva to join the tour's complementary Morel mushroom educational trail, or they can exit early at the church-pub-bus stop marked center.

The P+ trail elegantly bypasses the village center, sparing us the climb to parts of the settlement built on individually separate farms. We also pass by an old, rickety, and dangerous lookout (from its top, we would only study the surrounding forest's tree canopy closely, like from a canopy trail). The area of former clearings has been overgrown by regrowth, and it takes decades for the surrounding forest to reach maturity, so the structure could serve as a lookout again if renovated.

At the border of the neighboring village, we exit the forest onto the winding paved road connecting settlements, which is recommended to follow instead of the P+ trail as it leads more comfortably to Orfalu. A Slovenian inscription welcomes us at the border. We are in a typical Vendvidék scattered settlement where houses built side by side in the center are surrounded by rows of loosely structured farmhouses. Such is also the Huszászi creek valley along the village's eastern border, where we continue our route. The creek originates from wet meadows toward Farkasfa, later flowing into the Rába. An educational trail board calls our attention to the value of the marshy meadow; with good timing, we can see orchids glowing in burgundy and yellow water lilies among the dense vegetation.

Along the road, sometimes only a mailbox indicates houses hidden in the shrubby forest edge. A sign bids farewell at the village border, suggesting no more houses appear among the groves. From here, a quiet creek valley leads to a lightly trafficked highway. The asphalt strip playfully undulates at the foot of the farms descending into the creek valley but sharply turns out of the valley after one kilometer. Here we stay on the valley floor, on the cart road following the creek, which takes us through Farkasfa with the least climbing and distance. To the south above us is the meeting point of the watershed for the Zala, Rába, and Drava rivers. The Zala springs from the marshy area of Black Lake, where folk tradition says the ruins of Kisfarkasfa church sank.

Farkasfa, the settlement hidden in the forest

The closeness of Farkasfa is marked by the density of meadows and fields. After one or two peripheral farms, we arrive in the settlement center along a street bordered by continuous houses, to the bus turnaround, pub, and church triangle. In front of the church, a bell tower recalls harder times when building a church was unaffordable. The elongated, spindle-shaped settlement took its place by clearing forest in the creek valley. The terraced hillsides were once covered with wheat fields, but due to the difficulties of farming and alternative job opportunities, the area was abandoned and has since become forested, surrounding the village. Farkasfa was settled in the 14th century by Cistercian land-cultivating settlers, partly Slovenes. Today it is inhabited by a Magyarized population and is not considered part of the strictly defined Vendvidék, although the cemetery names reflect mixed ethnicity. Farkasfa was annexed to Szentgotthárd in the last years of communism because regaining city status required the population and territory from this border settlement. Along the road toward Szentgotthárd is a meteorological station whose official measurements represent one of the extreme climate values in Hungary.

At the end of Farkasfa, at the last crossroad, we turn back uphill again following the Z trail. After houses, crossing a meadow, we soon reach the forest again, characterized by mixed oak, beech, and pine stands. We cover the last kilometers on forestry roads winding among hills until finally joining the highway linking the inner regions and the Rába valley, leading back to Hársas Lake or on to Máriafalu.