Szoplák-völgyi Fox's Hole

The Szoplák-völgyi Fox's Hole is a cave located in Pilisszentkereszt in the Pilis Mountains of the Danube–Ipoly National Park. It is also described in tourist guidebooks.

Description

In the outskirts of Pilisszentkereszt, 60 m east of the entrance of the Szopláki-ördöglyuk, near the tourist trail marked with a green stripe, 10 m higher, the entrance of the Szoplák-völgyi Fox's Hole is situated in a rock wall. The cave opening is 2 m above the rock wall. The 5.5 m long cave has a meandering, nicely smoothed narrow corridor with horizontal walls. It is most likely an inactive spring mouth. On the walls of the cave formed in Dachstein limestone, condensation-water pea stones can be observed, and at the end roots hang into the cavity. It is filled with dry clay. Spiders, butterflies and snails live in it. Nearby, in the rock wall, there are a few small corrosion passages. To view the cave, which can be entered without a permit, the use of basic caving equipment is sufficient.

The cave also appears in the literature under the names Gazsi-luk (Kraus 1997), Rókalyuk (Láng 1953), Szoplaki-rókalyuk (Mezei 1967), Szoplak-völgyi-rókaluk (Kraus 1997), Szopláki-rókalyuk (Miczek 1991), Szoplák-völgyi-rókalyuk (Kordos 1984) and Szoplákvölgyi rókalyuk (Bertalan 1976). In 1991 the cave was first called Szoplák-völgyi Fox's Hole in the literature.

Research History

In the 1953 Geographic Bulletin, in a study written by Sándor Láng, it is stated that about 50 m east of the Szopláki-ördöglyuk, on the side of the rock wall, there is an entrance to a small spring cave. The almost horizontal corridor is about 3 m long and on average ½–2/3 m high. In addition, smaller passages can also be seen in the cave. In figure 6 of the publication, the longitudinal section map of Pilis Mountain shows the approximate geographical location of the caves on Pilis Mountain. The drawing shows the geographical location of the cave (Fox's Hole) next to the Szopláki-ördöglyuk. Figure 8 shows the floor plan sketch of the Szoplák-völgyi Fox's Hole. For the map sketch, the cave was surveyed by Sándor Láng, and then Márkus drew the cave map sketch based on the survey.

The 1967 guidebook Pilis útikalauz states that the entrance to the Szoplaki foxhole is 50 m east of the Szopláki-ördöglyuk, in a rock wall. The insignificant cave is only 4 m long. Near this latter cave is the Vaskapu valley. The 1974 guidebook Pilis útikalauz, in the list of caves of the Pilis and Visegrád Mountains (pages 19–20), mentions that between the caves of the Pilis and Visegrád Mountains there are the Róka‑lyuk (Szoplaki‑) and the Szoplaki‑rókalyuk. The description of the Szoplák‑völgyi Rókalyuk in the section on the Pilis Mountains caves matches the description of the Szoplák‑völgyi Rókalyuk published in the 1967 guidebook.

The manuscript Magyarország barlangleltára, completed in 1976, states that the Szoplák‑völgyi rókalyuk is located in the Pilis Mountains, in the Pilis‑vonulat, at Pilisszentkereszt. The entrance to the cave is about 50 m east of the Szopláki‑ördöglyuk, above the two‑beech‑tree carriage road (green‑marked tourist trail), on the side of a rock wall. The source cave is 4 m long and 0.6 m high. The part of the manuscript describing the cave was written based on two publications.

The 1984 book Magyarország barlangjai includes the cave Szoplák‑völgyi‑rókalyuk among the caves of the Pilis Mountains in the national cave list. Associated with the list is a 1:500 000 scale map showing the geographical location of the caves of the Dunazug Mountains, indicating the cave’s position. The manuscript written by József Kárpát in 1990 describes the cave. The manuscript contains a plan map and a cross‑section map of the Szoplák‑völgyi Rókalyuk. The plan map shows the location of the cross‑section within the cave. The name of the drafter and the date of creation are unknown. The map plate marks the east direction.

In the compilation written by József Kárpát in 1991 it is mentioned that the Szoplák-völgyi Fox's Hole (Pilisszentkereszt) is 5 m long and 0 m deep. The guidebook that appeared in 1991 repeats the cave description found in the 1967 guidebook, but in the 1991 publication Szopláki-fox's hole is the name of the cave. The 1996 cave day tour guide repeats the cave description from the guidebook published in 1967. On May 17 1997 Sándor Kraus drew a site plan showing the geographic location of the cavities of Szoplák Valley. The plan shows the geographic location of the Szoplák-völgyi Fox's Hole. In Kraus Sándor’s 1997 report it can be read that a map of the Szoplák-völgyi fox's hole (Gazsi-hole) was known before 1997. The report includes the site plan made in 1997.