No 3 Cave of Róka-hegyi tunnel

The Róka-hegy Taró No. 3 cave is one of the caves located in the Budai Landscape Protection Zone of the Danube–Ipoly National Park, in District III of Budapest.

Description

In one of the already abandoned stone quarries of Róka-hegy, the southeasternmost mountain of the Pilis range, on a nature‑protected area at the base of a rock wall, there is an artificial pit closed with a metal grate, through which the cave entrance opens. The quarry is on the DK side of the pit. Therefore, to reach the cave entrance one can only crawl through the openings of the metal grate, and this can be done only by slender‑bodied persons. The vertical, axis‑aligned entrance of the Róka-hegy Taró No. 3 cave is on the right side of the pit, on the wall opposite the Róka-hegy Taró No. 1 cave, about 2 m high.

The Róka-hegy Taró No. 3 cave was formed in Triassic limestone by solution in karst water. A dome is at the top of the 6 m high fissure entrance, which can be reached by easy climbing. In the dry part of the cave many pea‑stones can be observed. Visiting the cave without a permit requires basic caving equipment.

According to the cave map, the cave’s other name is Taró No. 3 cave (Sásdi 1997).

Research history

The cave was revealed as a result of stone mining. The Budapest encyclopedia, which saw the light of day in 1973, mentions that from the depressions of quarries operating or abandoned on the top and sides of Róka-hegy two small (karst‑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 22 March 1997 by László Sásdi and Richárd Kovács, after which László Sásdi prepared the cave’s plan map based on the survey. At that time a longitudinal section map was also made, showing the Róka-hegy Taró No. 3 cave and the Róka-hegy Taró No. 1 cave together. The location of this longitudinal section can be observed on the plan maps of the Róka-hegy Taró No. 3 cave and the Róka-hegy Taró No. 1 cave. The Róka-hegy Taró No. 3 cave is presented on two of its maps at a scale of 1:100.