Dorog - Piliscsaba (OKT-12)

Itinerary

Throughout the route, follow the K mark.

• From Dorog railway station we leave the town southeastward to reach Kesztölc.
• We only touch the edge of Kesztölc, walking under the mountains, then on asphalt to Klastrompuszta.
• After leaving Klastrompuszta, we walk to Piliscsaba.
• Leaving Piliscsaba southeastward, we shortly arrive at Piliscsaba railway station.

Detailed description of the route

Dorog - Klastrompuszta

From next to the building of Dorog railway station we descend into a long underpass beneath the tracks, crossing it to the left side. We come up at the edge of the Zsigmondy Vilmos housing estate, then continue right along Munkás street. At the Reformed church, we continue on Köztársaság street, then leave Dorog behind on Kesztölci street. Here we climb the embankment of a long-abolished sand railway. The former railway carried sand to the Dorog mines from nearby extraction sites, for example from the pit of today's Palatinus lake. The sand was needed for filling abandoned mine shafts, i.e. for backfilling.

The path now follows the embankment, reaching the last house of Dorog. We soon cross Kenyérmező creek. The rocky ridge of Kétágú hill appears before us, with its karst shrub forest on the slope, and farther away the steep slope of Pilis-tető. We cross road 117 bypassing Dorog and so arrive at Kesztölc.

Winding through the village, we soon reach Esztergomi street, from which we turn left after a few hundred meters. Leaving the houses behind, we climb steadily up to a wide hilltop, then crossing an asphalt strip, another slope leads into the side of Kétágú hill. (Following the Z mark heading onto the hill, we can visit nearby viewpoints on the hill's rim.) We do not walk at height, nor enter the forest, yet the section remains a distinctly beautiful part of the Blue Trail: beside our roadside dirt path with mullein and occasionally wild flowers, the white limestone ridges of the slope break through the sparse forest cover. In the valley below appear the rows of houses of Kesztölc.

After climbing a smaller ridge, we descend to the asphalt road leading to Klastrompuszta. Upon arrival at Klastrompuszta, we can stamp in two places: either at the gate of Ölyfa buffet, or continuing on the K mark at the junction of Kémény street and Klastrompuszta road on a utility pole-mounted stamp.

Klastrompuszta - Piliscsaba

The karst of Pilis hides striking places around Klastrompuszta. The settlement's highlights include the caves in the overhanging cliffs. It is worth making a short detour to the entrances of the Legény (lad) and Leány (girl) caves, behind which begins the country's third longest cave system. We will also not regret climbing up the Kémény rock: probably the highest rock formation in Pilis, reachable by a hiking trail (marked Z+). From the nearly vertical limestone tower top, we can look down fearfully to Klastrompuszta.

Moving on, a short forested climb leads to the next ridge. There, we pass the ancient oak tree, the St. Peter tree, then reach the forest edge. We descend through Vad-föld toward Piliscsaba, with Gerecse Hills visible across the rolling landscape. We arrive in Piliscsaba on muddy dirt roads, then on the main street near the Roman Catholic church. We pass the World War II military cemetery, and where the main road turns right, we turn left. We continue on Temető street, then turn left onto Szilvás street. Leaving the settlement, we cross low hills attached to the side of Pilis. Our path climbs along Gyertyános ridge, sometimes cutting two meters deep into the soil. Our sandy hollow road crosses a pine forest, then turns south towards Piliscsaba.

Between the gardens of the settlement we reach the railway station with a 10-minute walk. The stamp box is found on a utility pole at the intersection of Wesselényi, Árpád vezér, and Kálmán király streets, before crossing the railway tracks.