Look-Out Towers of Sopron-Mountains

I really enjoy watching spectacular panoramas. It is so relaxing and reloads you after the long way to a peak. I have already written about Sopron-Forest Park, but there is always something new to write about. This area is the land of mild downhills and silent valleys. There are 7 lakes, 20 creeks, and more than 40 streams waiting for hikers to explore them. 

I started this with my love to panoramas and landscapes, so let us focus on look-out towers of Sopron-Mountains. 6 of them are located in this region, giving the excellent opportunity to look around from the top of the hills and see the surrounding landscape. In this post I would like to write about 3 must-see look-out spots. Admission to all of them is free!  

Sörházdombi look-out tower: 

Sörházdomb is a 300m high range of Sopron-Mountains. After WWII, the old tower was demolished at this place, but in 2006 the local government got a new one built made of wood. This is the youngest look-out tower in the region. It is located close to the city; therefore, it is an ideal destination of afternoon walks or short hikes. You can approach it by following the “green triangle” sign. 

Várhely look-out tower: 

This is one of the oldest towers in Sopron-Forest Park, located at the early Iron Age (750-400 BC.) hill fort, hidden in the deep woods. (For more details, see my post about Cyclamen-educational path!) Start your journey there from Kertváros-Felső bus stop (bus number 3 or 10 terminates there) and follow the cyclamen or the “yellow triangle” sign. From this spot the following are visible: 

• Sopron, Sopron-Bánfalva, Bécsi-hill, Fertő/Neusiedl

• The peaks of Sopron- and Rozália-Mountains 

• Forchtenstein Castle and Schneeberg (Austria)

Károly look-out tower: 

This is the most popular look-out tower near Sopron, named after Károly Romwalter, who was a typographer and an enthusiastic hiker. In 1876 he got a wooden tower built. This was demolished and rebuilt several times, but since 1936 a 23m high tower, built of stone, stands at the top of Károly-hill. It is frequently visited, so one can approach it by following several trails and even a tarmac road leads there. 

Visit these places for engaging panorama and experience how small we are from a different perspective!

Random Hike

I’ve already written about the region called Pilis, but I’ve been there several times, so I can share more of my experiences with you about it. It is absolutely ideal for beginners and advanced hikers as well. 

Once I decided to go for a short hike at Pilis Mountains and a friend of mine joined me. He lives in Piliscsaba, so we agreed to make this town the starting point of our hike. We met at the railway station at about 9 AM, but didn’t have a concrete destination or idea; we just wanted to be out in the nature. Random enough, right? 

Careful planning is great but not everything. Sometimes, spontaneity makes a bigger and more joyful experience. I always take a map with me if I go outdoors. We took a quick look at it with my friend and after some consideration we decided to go to Nagy-Kopasz, (that’s simply a peak of a nearby hill) Eszperantó-forrás, (a calm resting place with a stream) and Leány/Legény-barlang (two small, but amazing caves, near Klastrompuszta).  See the map below for the details and relevant trails.

We climbed Nagy-Kopasz (447m) first, which was not tiring at all, but the panorama from the peak was great. It’s also an ideal place for one-night camping. We had a little rest there and continued our hike to Piliscsév. We were walking on marked hiking trails; thank God, we didn’t get lost! Piliscsév is calm, but rather boring village, we didn’t spend too much time there. The next station was Eszperantó-forrás. Personally, I like streams because fresh spring water always quenches my thirst. However, the stream was wizened. Bad luck… Anyway, we got to know that going there didn’t make too much sense. The last stop was at the two caves, but before arriving there we went through Klastrompuszta, which was even more silent than Piliscsév. There are ruins of a monastery built by The Order of Saint Paul the First Hermit which is a Hungarian founded religious order. Finally, we arrived to the caves. In Hungary, there aren’t too many huge caves, but smaller ones. According to legends, some monks were living in these caves, hiding in the woods. Leány- and Legény-barlang are spectacular and these are good shelters, so if you are about to encounter a storm and you are hiking there, you should definitely look for these!  

Unfortunately, I didn’t have a digital camera back then, so I can’t include good photos. (I used my friend’s smartphone to take some photos, I am not satisfied with them)…  

Panorama from Nagy-Kopasz

My Gear

When I started hiking, I didn’t set a high value on my equipment. I just put on old leather boots or sneakers and went outdoors. Once, I climbed Hochlantsch (Austria, 1721m) wearing shorts and trainers and surprisingly my socks didn’t get wet, but I caught a cold and so on… This story made me realize that gear is very important and there are situations when you can’t dispense with proper clothing or tools.

Footwear: 

When buying new hiking boots, make sure you select a waterproof one! If your boots get soaked, the remaining part of your hike can be terrible. Consequently, wearing improper footwear doesn’t allow you to enjoy your hike, since you always need to pay attention to each and every of your steps. Hiking is about experiencing nature around you. Why would you spoil this by having low-quality shoes? 

Currently, I wear Quechua Forclaz 600 when I’m hiking. (Click on the link for technical details and excellent photos of the boot). It’s absolutely waterproof, comfortable, made of high-quality materials, and ideal for all-day hikes. 

Gaiters: 

At first I didn’t know why to wear these. The reason is simple: they protect your shin from wetness, mud, and sharp underwood. Good gaiters make hiking comfortable even in knee-high snow or on extremely muddy trails. What is more, it prevents your trousers from getting dirty and soaked. I possess a Tatonka Gaiter 420 HD

Without gaiters you'll be this dirty!

Raincoat: 

You can never trust weather forecast; therefore, always take a reliable raincoat with you. No doubt, a well-ventilated rain jacket is essential. Airing is important: a good mackintosh protects you from rain, but lets your sweat out, so you won’t be streaming with perspiration. Unfortunately, I don’t have a really good one yet, but I plan to buy one soon. 

I think these are the most important parts of one’s gear when going to one day hikes. Of course, you can have special trousers, socks, and rucksack but these are not essential. Personally, I use old military training trousers and a worn-out backpack. I’ve never encountered problems with these, they are quite okay.  Spring has arrived!!! I hope I can write a hike report to you next week. Stay tuned! 

Before You Go...

Because of all the tasks I need to do, I can’t go for a hike this weekend. What’s more, the weather is still gloomy and rainy; floods and inland inundation would make hiking unpalatable. Some roads are covered with snow and ice and water level of rivers is still rising because of last week’s rainfalls. I am also feeling under the weather a bit. Is this something worth complaining about? Certainly not! 

If you can’t go for a hike, do some planning for the next one! That’s what I was doing when I decided to write this post. I have never been to Kékestető, the highest peak of Hungary (1014m), and I really eager to visit this place. After visiting Bakony I would rather hike in Mátra, Kékestető belongs to this mountain range. As I was looking for hiking trails I found some handy websites which are in English, so you can read them and make your planning much easier.

Map of Kékestető

Click here for information about sights, activities, and accommodation in Mátra!

Another place you may want to visit is Rám-szakadék. It is similar to Holdvilág-trench, but this gorge is longer, deeper, and more spectacular. Travel to Dömös and start the hike to Rám-szakadék there. Don’t try to go through it when the weather is rainy or it is snowing. Always follow the path there and don’t try to climb out of the ravine because it’s life-threatening. Only do the hike from Dömös up to Dobogókő and not the opposite way. (Otherwise, “traffic jams” will occur in the gorge).

Just one more place to mention: Balaton Uplands (Hun: Balaton Felvidék). Spectacular!!! I’ve been there last fall, but the weather was so foggy that I can’t even make a satisfying photo…   

If I have the time and the weather is better than now, I will definitely visit these places and shoot photos near Lake Balaton again.

Others About Cyclamen

I was reading the statistics page of my blog when I saw that someone found my corner of the web by searching for the term „cyclamen trails”. I knew that my post about the hike near Sopron was the most popular so far, but quite frankly I was a bit surprised. I wanted to see what the first hit for the same search was, so I typed these words into Google and found this.

Yeah, I know it’s a pretty short summary of the hike; however, it’s good to see that visiting this educational path is recommended by not only me but others as well. I just simply wanted to share this website with you, so you can compare my post about Cyclamen path to the external summary. Which one makes you more motivated to visit the woods near Sopron?