Wandering in the Somogy homestead world, life on the Marcali plateau

Itinerary :

• We start from the Mesztegnyő narrow-gauge railway terminus on the S trail.
• At a fork, we turn onto the S+ trail and continue on this to Kakpuszta.
• Following the traces of the vanished homesteads, we proceed on the nature trail through the ghost village to the narrow-gauge railway’s Felsőkak terminus.

Detailed description of the route :

Departure from Mesztegnyő

We depart from the Mesztegnyő terminus of the Boronka-region narrow-gauge railway on the S trail straight into the heart of the Boronka-region Protected Area. The word “straight” is literal here: the sandy ground cart path crosses the flat terrain for 6 kilometres without any directional changes, only avoiding formed puddles along the parallel wheel tracks.

This first section offers a great opportunity to gain a meditative mood for exploring the world of the plains. Indeed, 20th-century modernization never penetrated here; its former residents represented traditional values and built their church and community house through their own donations. Their livelihood was based on traditional forms of farming. There was neither electricity nor public transport. Even the forester was called Slow. The sweeping wind of modernization, promising shiny comfort, wiped out the plains.

Although immediately after crossing the railway in the first kilometre, we enter the protected area, here we mainly encounter abandoned pastures, planted black locust groves, and Scots pines. On the disturbed area, invasive plants are increasingly spreading: by late summer, the yellow sea of goldenrod waves in the meadows; the dominant forest type on the roadside and unfortunately also on the sandy soil is black locust, characterized by its species-poor undergrowth mainly consisting of nettles.

In the still-living homestead area

We encounter the first house after three kilometres, after which the road is long-bordered by a game fence. At its end, there is the first smaller S-shaped curve in the road - interestingly, a huge S-shaped bent trunk Scots pine stands at the edge of the turn. Then we turn sharply right onto the S+ trail along the edge of a pine forest. Here we are already welcomed by old willows and birch trees as we reach the Háromházi Inn.

The inn, operating with a kitchen, in the second half of the week is a great opportunity to break the monotony, refresh ourselves, and taste local flavours: game, fish, mushrooms, and the gastronomic values of Inner Somogy. The busiest life in the area can be found here. Naturally, they also accommodate guests on site, and the farm opposite is also inhabited.

We continue through oak woods and pine forests divided by meadows along the wide forestry road. Within a kilometre after the inn, we cross a power line, after which the S+ trail sharply turns left into the woods along a narrow path. Unfortunately, weeds growing in the clearing along the power line encroach on the path in several places. We just continue straight, parallel to the lines, even if further into the forest - on the weediest section, a tidy, sparse plantation of red oak accompanies us on the right. Although this sharp-leaved oak species shines in wonderful red colours in autumn and is a decorative splash in the Boronka forests, it is not native to the area or even the continent: it was planted from the deciduous forests of North America.

Just over a kilometre later, we cross the Aranyos brook. On the opposite side, we turn right southeast and walk beside meadows overgrown with goldenrod. We cross varied, groved forests: planted black locust, spruce, and Scots pine forests as well as alder, aspen, and oak forests are present in this mosaically planted area. Occasionally, among the orderly rows of young plantations, one can spot a few old, gnarly pear or apple trees. Here we are already in the territory belonging to Kakpuszta; the old orchards mark the spots of former homesteads, where the walls were either demolished or collapsed on their own.

In the ghost village of Kakpuszta

At the edge of a larger clearing, we enter the “In the footsteps of vanished homesteads” nature trail, which we follow with signs stylizing a house ruin wall and fruit trees, heading further right towards east. However, it is worth taking a short detour straight ahead, following our previous direction (also on the nature trail), because just a few tens of metres from the fork, on the left in the bushes, lies the cemetery of the former settlement.

Although a few graves are still maintained, most of the cemetery has become wild, with crosses and tombstones eerily disappearing among the bushes. Grave markers made of valuable stones were taken away long ago, and wooden and concrete graves have decayed; only those carved in sandstone, with tombstones and crosses, still stand in this haunting place.

We return to the intersection, turning left on the nature trail sign, then after about 100 metres, turning right and heading west, passing a few still standing houses left from the settlement. The former centre was barely one or two kilometres to the south, although this is difficult to determine in the loosely connected village of residential and economic buildings. In any case, the church, community house, and school were here, as well as the pubs - everything that kept the community together.

At the site of the last collapsed houses, there is a sign marking symbolically where we leave the village. Although on the opposite side of the Aranyos brook there was still a house, this was the forester’s; it was named Lassú House after him.

Beyond the Aranyos brook

The Tőzike nature trail joins from the left, greeted by a charming mixed forest. It is worth extending the original hike by a few kilometres and joining the nature trail along the Aranyos brook, as we can arrive at the only preserved, restored fish pond along the stream in a beautiful hornbeam-oak woodland and mire alder forest. The Counts Hunyadi established the fish pond system in the creek’s bed, which the retreating German troops destroyed at the end of World War II by blowing up the dams, making the Red Army’s advance more difficult.

In the last forest patch, we arrive at the end of the route at a cut-through sand dune, where we meet a southern Transdanubian section of the National Blue Trail. At the sand dune, we can examine the soil profile, which explains the area’s unique forest and vegetation associations. Beneath a soil layer just a few centimetres deep, there is sterile sand, which also does not retain water but quickly lets rainwater flow through, collecting in the area’s depressions.

After the intersection, a charming, spacious forest clearing welcomes us with benches, tables, a rain shelter, and a fire pit. Here arrives the Mesztegnyő Narrow-Gauge Railway, which is the most comfortable and pleasant way to leave the protected area. Kakpuszta residents also used this option since travel on sandy roads is especially difficult in winter. The narrow-gauge railway was built by the Hunyadis in the early 20th century for timber extraction and efficient access to fish ponds. Initially, steam engines pulled the trains; after World War II, it was state-owned for ten years as a horse-drawn railway, followed by diesel locomotives.

Before starting the tour, it is worth checking the narrow-gauge railway’s timetable, as the train now runs rarely: only on weekends, twice a day. If we can return only on foot, another 8-kilometre section follows along the tracks on the K trail, passing through charming mixed forests and along fish ponds, arriving back at Mesztegnyő.