Rádiháza – Palin (DDK-05)

Itinerary :

Throughout the route, we must follow the K marking.

• Between Rádiháza and Lispeszentadorján, we go through hills covered with forests in Zala.
• We pass through the cradle of the Hungarian oil industry, Bázakerettye.
• On paved road and along the scenic lake, we reach Kistolmács. Here is one terminal of the Csömödéri State Forest Railway.
• Among small villages in Zala, Borsfa, Valkonya, Obornak, Homokkomárom, we experience ups and downs in the hills.
• After Hosszúvölgy, we descend into the Principális Canal valley; the section ends in Palin, a northern suburb of Nagykanizsa.

Detailed description :

From Rádiháza, the rhythm accelerates again, the hills rise above 250 meters, and the landscape becomes more varied. We ascend past Ménesistálló up to a beautiful vineyard hill, passing through tended vineyards and wine cellars along the hilltop, then with a final small climb we reach the highest point of the section, Zsidó Hill (287 m), before descending to Szentpéterfölde. Here in South Zala, we say goodbye to the scattered homesteads built on hilltops, and, similar to other parts of the country, valleys and basins with more compactly built villages follow. The southern Zala villages have a beautiful location among forested hills; during the route we barely see cultivated fields, only a few small plots that look almost like parcels. Everything is dominated by forest and forestry. Szentpéterfa hosts a siding station of the Csömödéri State Forest Railway, which has numerous branch lines. The railway network is 109 km long. It consists of a main line with five branches and also provides passenger service between Lenti and Kistolmács. Leaving Szentpéterfölde, one might doubt trains run on these non-parallel rails, but do not be surprised if a wood-filled train appears. For about a kilometer, the Blue Trail follows the railway on a renovated forestry road and after a rest area by small lakes, we enter the forest. Among old oaks, we go up, then down, and up again as usual, then proceed silently and accompanied by birdsong for kilometers through uninterrupted forest to Lasztonya, where we cross the main line of the narrow-gauge railway again next to the Kálmánházi Forestry Railway stop. After Lasztonya, touching an observation tower, we arrive at the Tokhal spring, then descend to Lispeszentadorján. The village consists of three formerly separate communities: Szentadorján, Erdőhát, and Lispé. From the paved road, we climb again to the hilltop with a vineyard, and after a few kilometers, we spot Bázakerettye.

There were two things that prevented Bázakerettye from being called Dubai, not bordering the Persian Gulf. One is the Red Army's occupation and the subsequent nationalization, the other, more important, is that after promising beginnings, not that much oil was found. Now it appears more like a rough industrial center hidden between hills, with scattered buildings, oil pumps among apartment blocks, and a timber yard. But let’s not be unfair, because Bázakerettye also hides real beauty. In the 1930s, led by geologist Simon Papp, crude oil was discovered, and following the discovery, the Hungarian-American Oil Company Ltd. (MAORT) was founded, which saw much potential in the area. ("I don't struggle with coal, wood, I bake and cook with MAORT gas.", 1941 commercial text) They built an American-style settlement for officials, which today we might call a residential park. If to compare, the family houses resemble those from the Budapest Gas Factory housing estate plans. They also built a swimming pool next to it following the American pattern of the time; today it operates as a pool with a stretched water surface. The building complex among shady, huge old trees is not on the hiking path, but it's worth taking a detour and pause for a moment to imagine what it could have been. But it never was because the 4th Ukrainian Front arrived and the MAORT officials either went home or emigrated to the United States or were glad no one was taking them anywhere. The stamp site is on the terrace of the shop called Falusi supermarket.

In 1943-44 the Americans closely monitored the Zala oil fields, meaning they sent a fleet of 90 airplanes in July 1944 to bomb Lispe and Bázakerettye. In gratitude, the local pub is named B-24, above whose portal the mural of the American B-24 aircraft is displayed. This is not part of the Blue Trail description but nutshell: by the 1980s the oil field here was nearly depleted, in the early 1990s MOL was founded, and the company retained what it could from the infrastructure so the locals did not develop the kind of trauma around regime change as, for example, coal miners in Borsod did. The oil ran out, and well, it ran out. Dubai's oil will run out too, but they don’t have a narrow-gauge railway.

We leave Bázakerettye to the south, leaving the paved road and following the narrow-gauge railway, passing near the railway terminal and reaching the Kistolmács lake. This lake was formed by damming the Béci stream; it is a quiet resting place with a restaurant and rest area. At the southern end of Kistolmács, we turn east and the real rollercoaster ride begins. From here to Palin belonging to Nagykanizsa, we go east, thus crossing the north-south valleys perpendicularly, so up and down. The soil here is now less clayey, mixed with loess and sand. We cross beautiful oak and beech woods; no one should be frightened by a wild boar herd—I was not scared either, but by the time I set up my camera, even the smallest piglet had dashed into the bushes. On the hilltops are vineyards, a reddish-brown carpet of leaves, small villages. After Borsfa, Valkonya, Obornak, and Homokkomárom, the waves flatten; after Hosszúvölgy and Zsigárdmajor, we cross the Principális Canal almost on flat land and arrive at Palin, part of Nagykanizsa.