Walk around the wild water of the Csáford Forest

• Follow the information boards along the Snowflake nature trail for the first 1 kilometer.
• After the forest, turn right and walk along the meadow pasture for about 700 meters.
• Turn right and walk back to the starting point.

Detailed description of the tour

The Csáford Forest is located on the edge of the Little Hungarian Plain, near Csáfordjánosfa, in the floodplain of the Répce River. The 20-hectare forest block consists of two forest sections, surrounded by marsh meadows that are home to a multitude of wildflowers, and the Répce River flows very close by. The Snowflake nature trail runs along the borders of these forest blocks, visiting its five stations.

The Répce and its floodplain

The walk starts by crossing a narrow wooded belt, then we cross two bridges: first over the occasionally drying bed of the Kócsod stream, then over the particularly wild flow of the Répce. The meandering, unregulated river supplies water to the Csáford Forest and the riparian meadows of the Répce: a multitude of watermills once exploited its abundant flow. According to the nature trail’s information board, there is already a written reference from 1221 about the Vámoscsalád mill, and in the census of July 23, 1613, 49 mills operated on the Répce. These have disappeared by now, with only remnants visible near the river: one next to the bridge, another near the farthest point of our walk.

Crossing the river, we arrive at a wide floodplain meadow, which we must cross straight to continue towards the forest. The river was once accompanied by meadows, pastures, wetlands, and real marshy wilderness, but due to civilization and large-scale landscape modification, more than half of the original vegetation, sometimes even 70%, has disappeared. The most typical habitats along the Répce nowadays are still the marsh meadows, interrupted only by occasional tree groups or gallery forests. For this reason, the Csáford Forest, protected since 1955 and classified by WWF Hungary as the Sanctuary Forest, is of outstanding importance and uniqueness, with its centuries-old oaks, giant ashes, and black poplars, and its natural state.

The Snowflake forest

The oak-dominated forest is part of the Fertő-Hanság National Park, and to protect its extraordinary plant life, it can only be visited on designated paths under strict regulation.

The forest itself is spectacular because of the sight of old trees, with its greatest attraction being the spring snowflake, which blooms from late February to late March with approximately 10 million clumps, probably forming the largest population in the country. This low-growing "bell-flowered" plant thrives in damp forests, wet groves, and meadows, which is why it blooms in such great numbers in the Csáford Forest.

The carnival of flowers before leaf budding almost paints the forest floor white, but the hollow-crowned violet, wood anemone, yellow corydalis, and marsh helleborine ensure variety.

Until World War II, the forest was owned by the Simon family for several centuries, who held leading positions in Sopron County during the 18th-20th centuries, sometimes as magistrates and other times as county heads. The old oaks of the forest (e.g., Tibor Tree and Ödön Tree) bear the names of former family members.

Besides the 250-300-year-old pedunculate oaks, Hungarian ash, black alder, and hornbeam also appear, and since this is a natural forest, almost all age groups are represented. Because no forestry work is allowed here, the soil is covered in many places by deadwood, providing undisturbed habitat for numerous animals and plants.

We walk about 500 m along the straight forest road, marveling at the huge trees, the primeval forest atmosphere, or the snowflake thicket. If we do not wish to turn back immediately and retrace our steps on the same path, it is worth making a smaller circle around the forest.

Forest detour on the marsh meadows

From this point, the information boards will no longer help with orientation as the nature trail ends, but getting lost is unlikely.

After leaving the forest, turn right, then continue for about 700 m on an unmarked path. On the right-hand side, the Csáford Forest accompanies us for a while, but it is worth looking around carefully because the grassy strip before us and the widening marsh meadow hide wonders. During flooding, water may cover the area, but if we arrive at the right time, wildflowers offer a colorful spread on the meadow: common species include meadow and creeping buttercup, indigofera vine, meadow catchfly, wild garlic, and autumn crocus, but you may also find one of the earliest blooming orchids, the military orchid, as well as the also protected Siberian iris and the carnation with swollen calyx.

If we stay on the right side of the meadow, following the beaten track, turn right again, then walk about 1 km through riparian forests, ancient trees, and small patches of meadows to return to the Répce shore. From here, we can walk back to our starting point on the familiar path.