Kutya-hegyi Passage

The Kutya-hegy Passage is located in the Nagykovácsi outskirts, in the Danube–Ipoly National Park, in the Buda Hills, on Kutya Hill. It is one of the three caves of Kutya Hill.

Description

The cave lies east–northeast of Nagykovács, on the left side of the valley between Kutya Hill and Nádor Hill, relatively close to the valley floor. It can be most simply approached by following the blue stripe heading east from Nagy-Szénás, then taking the tourist trail marked with a blue cross. Following the blue‑cross tourist sign heading north, where the marked path makes a sharp mountain‑corner turn back toward DK, one must continue walking north in the valley. After leaving the sign, about 500 m more must be walked down the valley, where rocks can be seen on both sides. About 20 m above the valley floor, on the left side, on a rocky small ridge that runs down into the valley, the two entrances of the cave are at the base of a significant rock overhang. The cave is located in a specially protected area.

The larger, more easily noticeable and more comfortably traversable entrance is on the north side of the rock. This 1 m wide and 0.9 m high triangular entrance leads to a small crawl‑space that can be walked on all fours. Directly after the entrance, a narrow side passage slopes steeply downward in both directions, perpendicular to the main passage. After about 3 m the main passage narrows slightly and bends, but at its end it again meets the surface through a small (about 0.4 × 0.4 m) hole. This relatively narrow entrance emerges onto the surface under a low rock overhang. Directly beside it a narrow fissure, not reaching cave size, can be observed, which may be connected to the cave.

The encompassing rock of the Kutya-hegyi Passage is Triassic dolomite, its fill being mainly soil and rock rubble. The passage was formed along a tectonic fracture due to freeze‑thaw disintegration, corrosion, and dissolution below the karst water level (currently inactive). The simple, passage‑shaped cave has an upward slope. The characteristic cross‑section type is irregular. Its walls are very algal, and near the entrance mosses have also settled. Without permission and basic cave‑exploration equipment, the easily reachable cave is easily walkable.

In 2004 the cave was first called Kutya-hegyi Passage in its literature.

Research history

The cave was surveyed by Borzsák Sarolta and Egri Csaba on 29 August 2004, after which Borzsák Sarolta, using the survey data, prepared the plan map, longitudinal section map and two cross‑section maps of the Kutya-hegyi Passage (Nagykovácsi, cave‑cadastral area 4771). On the plan map the positions of the longitudinal section and the two cross‑sections in the cave can be seen. The east direction is marked on the map sheet. According to the survey the cave is 6 m long and 1.5 m deep.

According to the register sheet prepared on the basis of a complex condition survey on August 29, 2004, the larger horizontal entrance of the Kutya-hegyi Passage (Pest County, Nagykovácsi, Buda Hills, cave cadastral area 4771) has the coordinates: X: 634 498 Y: 250 317 Z: 396 m. This entrance, opening in a rock cleft on the mountainside in a forest, is 0.9 m wide, 1 m high, natural, triangular in shape and oriented horizontally. The thoroughly surveyed cave is 8 m long, has a vertical extent of 1.9 m, a depth of 1 m, a height of 0.9 m, and a horizontal extent of 5 m. The cave’s enclosing rock is Triassic dolomite. The cave floor is practically untouched. Competent nature‑protection authority: Danube–Ipoly National Park Directorate. Surface protection: Buda Landscape Protection Area.