Szárliget - Dorog (Blue Trail - 11)

Itinerary

During the route, you must follow the K marking all the way.

• Starting from Szárliget railway station, we cross under the motorway and pass the Kisegyházapuszta ponds.
• We climb up to the Somlyóvár key house, then descend to Tornyópuszta.
• From there, we reach the Koldusszállás hunting lodge by walking through the forest.
• From Koldusszállás, we approach Vértestolna by bypassing Pes-kő, but the Blue Trail doesn’t enter there.
• We visit the Bánya-hegy forestry lodge via a mountain path.
• We bypass Nagy-Gerecse from the north and reach Pusztamarót touching the Serédi castle.
• From Pusztamarót, we hike a long way to Péliföldszentkereszt.
• We climb below the Old Stone of Bajót, then enter Mogyorósbánya.
• We reach the Tokod cellars by climbing Kő-hegy.
• We climb Hegyes-kő, then descend to Tokod.
• From Tokod, we tackle climbing Nagy-Gete.
• We reach Dorog railway station via a downhill path from Gete.

Detailed description of the route

Szárliget - Koldusszállás

We start our Gerecse section from Szárliget railway station, crossing the Hajagos ridge eastward. If time allows, it’s worth climbing to Zuppa Peak: you can see characteristic “devil’s furrows” and karst bush forests with a panoramic view of Vértes. Descending on the other side, we pass under the motorway, then via Nagyegyházas we reach the fish ponds. Leaving the charming ponds reminiscent of Somogy, we set off towards Somlyó. A dense path section and grovey woods accompany us to the crossing of the Váli stream. We cut through clearings with warm microclimate and sunny forests and by bypassing the summit, we arrive at the Somlyóvár key house. The charming small building is an excellent rest spot – if not rented, it’s always open, and its covered porch is suitable for overnight stays. The stamp office is located at the entrance of the key house.

Don’t miss the peak! From the sometimes waist-high grass dry summit – since it lies at the edge of the mountain range – you get a wide panorama: the Vértes stretches before you, and the mountain above Tatabánya with its steep Turul statue stands out. The characteristic landscape of Gerecse is also clearly visible: wooded, mostly steep-sided arable lands and settlements, as well as the network of surrounding fields and pastures form the view. Turning north, behind Nagy-Gete appears Börzsöny as well.

Leaving Somlyó, we descend into the valley, then follow a gravel road to Tornyópuszta. We walk on asphalt for a while, then after a short forest section, we cross the busy Tarján main road. We emerge from the beautiful forest to the charming but motorway noise-polluted clearing of Bodza valley. Near the road, we take a sharp right turn and approach Koldusszállás by a long forest walk. We cross the Tarján-mill stream, after Hallgató Berecnyak turning right, arriving at Koldusszállás which also has a pond. Before leaving the forest, one of the stamps is found on a signpost; another is on a roadside electric pole after the hunting trail.

Koldusszállás - Pusztamarót

The next kilometers hide the most wild section of Gerecse: the beech forest on the rocky side of Pes-kő resembles the atmosphere of Bükk forests. We walk along the foot of the Pes-kő mountain broken cliffs and approach Vértestolna. From the edge of a field, you can see the village recognizable by its long, narrow structure, and in the opposite direction appears the whale-shaped Nagy-Gerecse hill. On Pörös hill, the Blue Trail passes by beautiful mossy limestone boulders. Our path climbs to the saddle between Halyagos and Bánya hills to bypass the huge “red marble mine.” The limestone, buried deep, turns into marble over a long period under great pressure and heat. However, the rock mined here in Gerecse did not have enough time for full transformation; its metamorphosis took place only partially. Thus, it is commonly called marble due to its appearance and tradition but is actually limestone. In a clearing stands the Bánya-hegy forestry lodge; you can find the stamp box opposite, on the signpost.

On the right, a recognizable railway embankment follows the forest, with a small bridge on it. We are already walking on the slope of the area’s namesake block, Nagy-Gerecse. The K marking does not climb up to the top with the geodetic measuring tower but bypasses it on the north side along the mountainside. We walk in a varied forest sprinkled with rock outcrops here and there. We find the next stamp on the fence of the tastefully decorated Serédi castle.

Following the K marking, shortly we arrive at Pusztamarót. The path turns right at the forest rest house - we cross straight to the forest edge resting benches. We find the stamp at the Blue Trail information board - behind it lies the old cemetery. With a small detour, we can also get our stamp at the canteen of Sólyomfészek Youth Camp. A village once stood here, but the small forest clearing is famous for its historical role: after the Battle of Mohács, the fleeing Hungarian army was destroyed here by the Turkish forces.

Pusztamarót - Mogyorósbánya

We continue our walk towards the Vaskapu gorge; along the way we basically say goodbye to the Gerecse forest experiences – from now on we only cross smaller forest patches. After bypassing the gorge, we step for a long time on a grassy corridor under a power line. After a road crossing and another forest path, we climb higher along the edge of the clearings of Péliföldszentkereszt. From the summit, the rocky Hegyes-kő and forested cone of Nagy-Gete are visible. From here, with gentle descent and at the end on an asphalt road, we reach the entrance of the small church of Péliföldszentkereszt. We confirm our presence with the stamp placed on the terrace of the café behind the building – or if we walk to the Gerecse Nature Park Visitor Center, we find the stamp on one of the columns of the building.

Leaving behind the building complex nestled in a small basin surrounded by forests and its pond, we soon reach the Szent-kút spring. We climb to the striking rocky cliff, the limestone rock line of Old Stone of Bajót. It’s worth making a short detour because of the view and the impressive rock chamber of the Jankovich cave. The K marking does not go up to the summit but turns right at a rest place below it.

We descend along a path, then enter Mogyorósbánya through a small street. The stamp is found on the Blue Trail signpost in the village center.

Mogyorósbánya - Tokod

We depart from the village square along the narrow street next to the bus stop. Leaving the village, we climb higher in the side of Kő-hegy. Where the K marking goes down, there is a scenic lookout hidden by forest on a rocky cliff: turn a little left, and soon you will see limestone benches with flat tops. The view over the eastern patches of Gerecse and the next section of our path, i.e. Hegyes-kő and Nagy-Gete, is magnificent. In the background, the steep slopes of Pilis are visible; to the left, the huge mountain range of Börzsöny rises behind the Esztergom Basilica. Increasingly wilder views appear along the Blue Trail: as we approach the Danube Bend, gradually higher and larger mountain ranges rise in the distance.

After the summit, we begin to descend into the valley of Tokod cellars. On our vineyard path reminiscent of Balaton Uplands’ atmosphere, we also find a stamp: let’s verify this at the Kavics lodge at the Tokod cellars! From here, our goal is the rocky ridge of Hegyes-kő. After a short but strenuous climb, we reach a nice grassy back with a beautiful panoramic view in all directions. Upon reaching the base of Hegyes-kő, be sure to take the effort and climb up to the summit! From the bare limestone surface ridge, we enjoy a 360° panorama: on one side the undulating Gerecse landscape with a few mountain groups, on the other side the scenery is dominated by Börzsöny and the Danube. To the east, the rocky side of Pilis appears. Descending to Tokod, we can admire the panorama for a long time. We find the stamp in the city upon entering, at the corner of Hősök square and Szabadság street on an OKK information board, if we missed it at the Tokod cellars.

Tokod - Dorog

After the village, a particularly strenuous uphill follows. The huge conical, soaring Nagy-Gete rocky-gravel path challenges us not only because of its steepness but also its slippery surface. After an exhausting climb, we reach a several meters high wooden cross standing on the hilltop. From the summit clearings, a memorable panorama opens to the clodded, mostly gently undulating Gerecse landscape. The height difference is striking: the neighboring clods of Gerecse appear as small rocky hills here. We find the stamp next to the cross, on the signpost.

We descend for a long time from Nagy-Gete to Dorog through managed, exploited forests and clearings, passing by a mining site. We reach a hillside city district street but don’t descend for long, as a sharp turn returns us to Panoráma street, which bends onto the ridge. After a sharp right, we climb gravel streets between sparsely lined houses to the summit of Calvary hill. At the top stands the Aknatorony lookout, which previously served mining operations and was transported to the hilltop in 1981 to commemorate the city’s mining past. The tower was converted into a lookout in 2025; from its grated upper level, we can observe the Pilis long ridge behind Dorog from Esztergom to Pilis Peak, and also see the Nagy-Szénás group of the Buda Hills. Börzsöny rises over the landscape behind the Esztergom Basilica. The Blue Trail also leads down to Dorog through the Calvary, refurbished in 2025.

Crossing the mining town’s center, the railway station is the final destination. After ascending from the underpass to the station buildings, we can stamp at the box placed on the OKK board on the right.