Panorama Tour, olive green I

1. Route description, explanation of signs
The trail numbers on this tour are: 249, 230, 237, 239, the tour is marked as olive green I. Low-traffic public roads: 5.8 km, agricultural roads 1.78 km, forest roads 5.86 km. The dashed line indicates an unpaved road (forest road).

2. Difficulty factors in the tour
The tour is easy, with minimal elevation differences, and can be undertaken on a mountain bike or trekking bike.
3. Ambience
The tour is especially recommended for cyclists who like to spend the night in a peaceful, quiet location and make casual cycling trips from there. Barnag is exactly such a small, cosy village. From there you can easily reach the highest points of the Balaton Highlands and enjoy the beautiful panorama.

4. Detailed tour description
The municipality of Barnag strongly supports cycling tourism. As a part of this, the municipality provides a courtyard with washrooms, toilets and changing rooms for the active tourists.
The tour starts on a low-traffic, paved public road towards Vöröstó on path 249. At the crossroads past Vöröstó, follow the signs on path 230 towards Mencshely. After two kilometres, turn left on the road to Mencshely and you will reach the village in a couple of minutes.
Towards the other end of Mencshely you can find the Kossuth lookout tower, which is well worth a climb, as it offers a panoramic view of the entire Lake Balaton region. On the hillside below the lookout tower you can walk along the Volcano Nature Trail to take a glimpse into the past and discover how the volcanic stones were once quarried.
After the short stop, continue on to the Hideg Mountain. After one kilometre on a paved agricultural road, you continue on an unpaved forest path, a forest hiking trail through exceptionally diverse and beautiful landscapes, forests and meadows. This takes you to one of the highest points of the Balaton Highlands, Hideg Mountain, with an altitude of 395 metres. From this natural vantage point, which can only be reached by bicycle and on foot, one can overlook not only the whole Pécselyi Basin, but also the entire Tihanyi Peninsula.
After admiring the breathtaking panorama, take a flat, gravelled forest path to Zádor Castle – sadly more of a castle ruin by now. It is located in a fascinating forest scenery and definitely worth a visit.
From there a relaxed bike ride takes you back to Barnag (2 km) on a pleasant gravel path.

Municipalities on the route: Barnag, Vöröstó, Mencshely.