Autumn is full-on with it’s eye-pleasing colors and with a weather that is ideal to get out from between the four walls and have an invigorating hike in nature.
I was searching for our next destination in the region and happened upon one with several springs, fascinating rock formations and a narrow precipice, my interest was piqued straight away. The hike itself did not disappoint, I was buzzed up all along the way.

Details of the walk:

Distance: 8,1 kilometres
Elevation: 270 metres
Route: http://out.ac/ebbWa (GPX and KML formats are available)
How to get there? By public transport with bus 868 from Szentendre. Check the timetable as it only passes by once a day in each direction. By car on a bumpy road from Szentendre, enter Lajos-forrás in the GPS to get there.

Itinerary

The round trip starts from the Lajos Spring, an intersection of 6 different hiking trails. According to the legend King Louis (Lajos) the Great liked to hunt in the region, but the spring wasn’t named after him. The basin of the spring was built in 1908 and was named after baron Lajos Podmaniczky, owner of the area and the hunting lodge.Next to the spring stands a now-abandoned tourist house where we start our walk on the yellow path.

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Shortly after the tourist house the trail turns left and after a few stairs overgrown by plants, reaches an immense clearing dotted with campfire spots. We crossed the clearing and continued on the yellow trail into the wood.

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The sunlight filtering through the vibrantly yellowing crowns of the tall trees, the crisp autumn air, the sound of the leaves softly falling from the branches, I had the feeling of walking in a still-life painting. No other human being could be seen or heard, a fact that only enhanced the incredibly calming experience.

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A short while after crossing the asphalt road, opens the yellow+ trail that turns to the left leading to Cseresznyés-Völgy ( Cherry Valley) but our route continues on the yellow sign. Winding through the colored forest, I was in awe of all the shades of my favorite color, yellow (surprise, surprise).
The yellow O trail leads the second spring of our hike, the Csepel Spring. The name pays tribute to the workers of the Weiss Manfréd Acél- és Fémművek (Manfréd Weiss Steel and Metal Works), or colloquially Csepel Művek (“Csepel Works”) who used to hike here frequently. It is nested in a small valley between towering beech trees and giant horsetails. On the beech trees along the path, we found carvings from the 70s.

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A few minutes after returning to the yellow trail, reaching another intersection, we took a little detour on the yellow Ω track to the Vasas- szakadék (Vasas-precipice). For me, this was the highlight of the hike. The formation is made of 8 meters high andesitic tuff and you get ‘swallowed ‘ by the earth if you walk into it. The sides of the ravine are less than 2 meters apart so by extending my arms I could reach both of them. Places such as Vasas szakadék, bring out the not so deeply buried child in me, I just want to explore them and discover more of their hidden secrets.

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 After we have sufficiently checked every nook of the precipice, we went back to the yellow path and continued our hike up to the Kő-hegy ( Stone Hill).

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On the top, we found a lovely tourist house that has been open and serving the hikers since 1933. The inside of the house is also charming with old signs and hiking accessories from the past. To refill our batteries, we decided to sample their kitchen and have a little rest, I really recommend their goose greasy bread with red onions ( Hungarian specialty) and crépes.

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The plateau gives a great view to Szentendre, or so I’ve read because on the day of our hike, the town was hidden by a thin layer of fog.With our bellies full, we pushed on to complete the second half of the trip.
Across the clearing starts the green signed trail that took us to the rock formations and the Petőfi viewpoint. According to the memorial plaque the famous Hungarian poet, Sándor Petőfi took a brief rest here when he was hiking in the area with his friends. Even with the mist, the view was quite nice and the area’s most interesting rock formations can be seen here: Mushroom rock or more commonly known as Napoleon’s hat.

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The green trail zigzagging down from Stone Mountain takes us into a valley, where we found our third spring of the day, named János Spring. Next to it we found a tiny wooden bridge that was painted like a colorful rainbow by the Hungarian Two-Tailed Dog Party.

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After a short upwards walk, we turned right on to the blue cross trail, which was the final leg of our round trip. Sometimes the path goes on a wider dirt road, sometimes it goes up to the woods. Be prepared, the final kilometers of the hike elevate sneakily so you can complete your cardio workout as well.

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The gorgeous yellow and copper brown colors of the trees made the hike incredibly stunning but nature is always beautiful no matter the time of the year so get your backpack and give it a go.