Szablyár Péter: Sky-high - Our Budapest (Budapest, 2007)

Observation Towers

■ Lookout tower in the same park

Károly Kaán (1887-1940) was a forestry officer who drafted Hungary's first conservation law and the first to promote the idea that woods could play an important part in public welfare. The plaque commemorating his name is now in the headquarters of the Budapest Forestry Office, but its place is marked here, too.

The Kis-Hárshegy (Low Linden Hill) Observation Tower is accessible from several directions on the easy and well-marked (look out for the green circle on tree trunks) paths of the Hárs Hegy hikers’ "boulevard”. Visitors can relax on the benches by the tables of the resting area at the bottom of the tower. Assembled from railway sleepers attached to an iron rod to form a spiral staircase, the tower allows those not suffering from vertigo to look around from a height of 8 metres from ground level. That is enough to have a clear view above the surrounding treetops in the direction of Hűvösvölgy, Lipótmező and Pesthidegkút. There is room on the small lookout platform for two persons.

A destination popular with city-dwellers is the Game Park between Budapest and Budakeszi. This small communal woodland area was created in 1979 to mark the international children’s year. Domesticated with a car park, a miniature zoo,

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