No 3 Cave of Róka-hegyi quarry

The 3rd cave of the Róka-hegy quarry is one of the caves located in the Budai Landscape Protection Area of the Danube–Ipoly National Park, in District III of Budapest.

Description

In one of the already exhausted quarries of the Róka-hill, the southeasternmost mountain of the Pilis range, located in a nature reserve, the entrance to the cave opens on the western rock wall of the quarry at about 10 m above the quarry floor, and it is easy to notice. The 3rd cave of the Róka-hill quarry is situated between the Róka-hill Crystal Cave and the 2nd cave of the Róka-hill quarry. The 3rd cave of the R.‑h. quarry and the 4th cave of the R.‑h. quarry were formed along the same tectonic plane.

From its entrance the 3rd cave of the Róka-hill quarry gradually rises inward, and above the entrance, at about 5 m height, the cave ends. The entrance of the cavern, which is free of formations and dry, should be approached using rope protection. The cave can be visited without a permit.

The cave appears in literature under the names Upper Cave of the Climbing Wall (Sásdi 1997) and Róka-hill Quarry Upper Cave of the Climbing Wall.

Exploration History

The cave was discovered as a result of stone mining. In the Budapest encyclopedia published in 1973 it is mentioned that from the depressions of the quarries operating or abandoned on the top and sides of Róka-hill two small (water‑origin) pits and several small artificial cavities open. The cave’s name does not appear in the national cave list of the book *Caves of Hungary* published in 1984. The cave was surveyed on 8 March 1997 by Richárd Kovács, after which László Sásdi, based on the survey, prepared the plan map and longitudinal section map of the Upper Cave of the Climbing Wall (Róka-hill quarry). Both maps present the cave at a scale of 1:100. The location of the longitudinal section within the cave is shown on the plan map.