Variations on a theme: along waters at the edge of the Mecsek

Itinerary

• From the Zobákpuszta bus stop, join the S+ trail to connect with the Blue Trail route (still within the settlement).
• Turn left onto the K trail, which we follow along the Hidasi Valley up to the Cigány Hill slope.
• Where the South Transdanubian Blue Trail follows the asphalt to the right, we turn left onto the K+ trail and follow it briefly.
• At the next junction, turn right onto the S trail, where we make a detour to the Cigány Hill lookout.
• From the lookout, walk back along the S trail to the first junction.
• At the junction, turn left onto the K+ trail, which we follow until the asphalt road junction.
• On the StM (Saint Martin's yellow road) trail (to the right), descend to the Pásztor Spring.
• From the Pásztor Spring, follow the P trail to Márévár.
• Reach the gate of Márévár via the PL trail.
• Walking back behind the castle, rejoin the P trail and follow it to the end of the Castle Valley.

Detailed description of the route

From the world of coal to the limestone universe

Zobákpuszta belongs to the nearby Komló, and although its history goes much further back (residents used to engage in forest cultivation and wood processing), the exploitation of the coal basin brought a new era to the small settlement — which nevertheless preserved its rural character, as the newly arrived workers were relocated to the city. Large-scale extraction began in the Zobák mine in the 1940s, which was one of the most important mining sites in the region. By the 1950s, more than 25,000 people worked deep in the nearby galleries simultaneously, and the mined coal primarily supplied the Danube Ironworks. By the 1980s, the coal basin production in Komló even surpassed that of Pécs, but due to outdated technology, declining workforce, and the increasingly difficult-to-access raw materials, operations became unprofitable. The Zobák mine was finally closed in 2000.

Following the S+ trail, we start the hike and leave the busy main road within minutes. We descend through a forest to a spacious meadow, which already foreshadows the valley before us. At the end of the grassy area, turn left onto the K trail, and from the narrowing meadow enter the forest alongside the Völgységi stream. At the far end of another clearing, cross the ford, and walk a few meters along the roadside. Finally, the markers lead us right to the mouth of Hidasi Valley. We face the biggest challenge on the first meters: we must cross a slowly winding, deep water section with essentially no ford, balancing cautiously on carefully laid debris logs to reach the other side. This is followed by another ford, now much easier to cross, then a winding path cuts through a flower-carpeted forest meadow dampened by the wet soil. As the stream bends towards us, we inch forward along an undercut high-ridge path, scraping the rocky wall, and eventually follow the water, leaving the challenges behind.

The fairy garden of karst waters

The path climbs higher on the closed forested valley side, giving us a view of the meandering stream below. The character of Hidasi Valley is determined by the narrowness of the constriction and the effect of the stream's power: in narrow sections, the water speeds up and "cleans" its bed by rushing away fine, light debris, revealing the bedrock. Elsewhere the valley widens, and the stream slows down, spreading most of its load — as it did during earlier geological periods, water-rich times, or modern floods alike. In these wider parts, the water carves into the soft sediment lining the valley floor, winding in large bends in search of its path.

Soon we step over a small brook and can hear dripping water to our right in a meadow. Descend and take a few meters right, because one of the Mecsek’s geological marvels leans over the valley floor here. The Csurgó is a huge, yawning rock giant softened by moss spots and a plant carpet hanging from its top, whose rounded shapes also soften its vast stone mass. Water flowing from the ridge weaves like a veil over the rough rock surface and trickles down as a sparkling curtain, breaking into droplets as it hits the large stone lumps. This enchanting phenomenon is actually a massive freshwater limestone deposit, known as a tufa block, which the stream above has been nurturing for millennia: as water reaches the surface, carbon dioxide escapes due to changed pressure, causing dissolved lime to precipitate and crust over obstacles in its path. You can also examine the rock in its dry form, inspecting blocks that have fallen off earlier.

Leaving behind the century-old rotting beech trunk beside Csurgó rock, we skirt a meadow and enter the most beautiful part of the valley: a stream tumbling over countless small stone ribs decorated with a chain of tiny cascades, the gurgling sound permeates the narrowing, both wild and charming gorge. The water cutting the small limestone pastures entirely fills the valley floor, and at its banks, the hidden yet occupied Hidasi spring operates amidst the rocky environment. We face tilted limestone benches characteristic of the eastern Mecsek, and the geological composition of the valley reflects the diverse geology of the entire mountain range. A long series of rock types formed in a diverse marine environment surrounded by volcanoes, including mixed limestone varieties, marl outcrops, and basalt.

The path hugs the stream and on the valley’s still beautiful section, accompanied by the sound of water carving small slides into the limestone slabs, continue walking. We cross another sunny meadow nearby the former Hidasi hunting lodge — according to folklore, one of the nearby trees hid treasure underground. The ruins certainly buried valuable items: according to a 1950s tourist guide, the building still offered accommodation at the end of the decade, regularly hosting scout camps.

From above: the Mecsek

Leaving the chain of springs behind, we enter another forested section leading to a wider, splendidly situated meadow before the stream reaches the asphalt road crossing the Eastern Mecsek. We walk briefly on it, turn right to leave it, and arrive in a shaded amphitheater dominated by a candle beech and hornbeam forest in primeval forest mood at the valley head. From here, the K marker leads around the spring field and upward with a short climb back to the asphalt road. On the narrow little road, we turn right and step through a torn beech forest curtain at the edge of a clear-cut, from which we can discover the straight ridge line of the Misina and Tubes ridges in the distance.

From the asphalt, at one point, a left branch diverts off the K+ trail; follow this forest road until you can turn right onto the S trail. This leads on a short, narrow path up to the limestone base, steel-structured lookout tower of Cigány Hill. The tower is a little eagle’s nest of the Eastern Mecsek, offering views over a large part of the range due to its central position. The steep peak of Zengő rises from a sea of wooded ridges, and the rounded hills of the western range are also visible, primarily the long ridge ending at Misina. It seemingly merges with it, but actually hides the Jakab Hill block behind. Dobogó blocks the view to the Mecsek hills from the north, but to the west, the valley of Márévár escorts our gaze out of the mountain range, our next destination. From the forested center, the Mecsek spreads out all around like a raised hilly landscape, the gentle waves mostly hiding the mountainous sharp shapes and steep valley slopes.

Back to the water realm

Leaving the lookout, we dive again into the Mecsek valleys, following the K trail backward on the winding asphalt ribbon in the hillside to the first junction. From here, take the StM (yellow Saint Martin's trail) right onto a washed-out, branch-woven path and descend into the grassy, narrow forest amphitheater of Delelő meadow. The fully equipped resting place (fireplace, benches, rain shelter, restroom) gets only brief sunlight, alongside which are the well-constructed, significant output Pásztor and Boszorkány springs, both interconnected. Both partly get replenishment from sedimentary rocks under the hard volcanic "hat" of Dobogó towering above them. The meadow and the water source name preserve the memory of livestock once driven here to drink from Kisújbánya, but based on the smaller spring’s name, locals might have known this hollow as Rikájók (now marked further away in the narrow gorge section on maps), which according to legend inspired witches who cackled here in the evenings.

From here, head down on the P trail in Castle Valley, crossing a forest strip lively with streams and waterfalls—the water cascades over a several-meter-thick tufa deposit, which still lines the valley for a long stretch. The trail leads to asphalt, where we soon leave the left Mária well, once known by the locals of Magyaregregy as a pilgrimage spot with healing powers (due to a Marian image placed on a beech tree). The spring was one of the most plentiful water sources in the range but now only sparkles after heavy rains. Soon a rugged limestone cliff section follows, which before road construction was the narrowest part and true gorge of Castle Valley. Many rocks of the Mecsek appear along the road, their study aided by information boards of the geological educational trail.

Hunting trail adorned with a castle

We don't follow the charming valley bottom for long; the lazily winding road is soon left behind to the left. We cross the stream on debris stuck in the washed-out bridge pillar and turn into a side valley. Shortly we turn our back on it too, crossing a small ridge to join the uniquely charming path winding along Castle Valley’s hillside, memorable for its wonderful, natural forest landscape. Occasionally moss-covered, rotting trunks lie on the ground, with dense green carpets of seedlings competing for sunlight in gaps left after fallen giants — sunlight rarely pierces the old beech canopy. The roughly level transverse cut is primeval forest-like and natural in character, running the entire length of the valley. The hillside is often broken by dry ditches but soon a main spring appears — the Gergely-Éva spring, named after the opening of "Egregy Stars," which takes place in a Mecsek valley.

Crossing a steep slope, we arrive at the parking lot behind Márévár, where looking right, massive walls sitting on a hilltop catch the eye. The small hill lies under the ridges surrounding the valley but offers a view over the valley road cutting across the Eastern Mecsek forest, which might have inspired the Romans to build a tower here. The foundations of the present castle were laid after the Tartar invasion, and before the Turkish destruction, it was transformed into a Renaissance castle. As the conquest expanded northward, its importance diminished (though initially strengthened by Ottoman troops), and later it came under the Pécs bishopric and was no longer inhabited. Curiously, the 20th century held a smaller "siege" for it: in late autumn 1956, a Soviet tank fired at freedom fighters hiding inside the walls — the so-called "Invisible Ones of Mecsek" — killing two of them. Walking around the castle, we can peek into the courtyard through a gate accessible by stairs, even if the castle is closed.

Loops around the dry valleys

The P trail does not go onto the asphalt but follows behind it, gently ascending the hillside and mostly staying there. Along the walk, we observe the asphalt ribbon diving down deeply, and must watch our steps since the path continues sometimes on a quite narrow trail with steep slopes. Elsewhere the terrain "calms down," flattening, but the forest landscape remains natural, varied, and impressive. Our track, like a fine hunting trail, crosses many dry ditches (dry valleys), forcing us to make quite large loops. No water remains in the shallow furrows, but during earlier wetter geological periods, intermittent springs fed streams rushing down them into the deepening Castle Valley. Our trail also heads there, still making substantial curves before turning steeply down a developed side valley. We leave behind a nicer days-seen textile factory building in the forest and descend to the stream with a bridge crossing. On the far side, water gushes from a small limestone bastion as the Textiles spring (named after textile factory workers from Szeged camped nearby), with convincing force. It is actually an artificial water source, the overflow of a true spring about 100 meters away flowing from the sedimentary rock fissure system — its discharge sufficient to supply the wooden lodge above and the pools of the valley's forest swimming spot since the 1980s. During rainy periods, periodic springs in the surroundings also activate.

From here, the hiking trail guides us on the muddy valley bottom back to the asphalt and we arrive at a forestry house and a meadow equipped with football goals, next to the forest swimming spot, opposite which is a campsite. These facilities still operate today, stemming from the water regulation works of the Castle Valley waters in Mecsek, similar to their predecessors like the Kreutzer (also known as Krajcár) and Chapel mills. Their buildings still stand, the latter in the campsite, the former as the last house in the valley. From here just a few meters remain to reach the main road following the Völgységi stream, where the bus stop is located at the junction.