Létavértes – Halápi inn (AK-10)

In Létavértes stamp your booklet with the stamp on the Blue Trail information board standing in front of the specialized outpatient clinic on the main road, then head north leaving the town center behind, walking on the right sidewalk of Baross Street. Upon reaching the outskirts of the town, turn left at the "Y" junction towards the railway station, then after 250-300 steps turn right onto meadow bike tracks.

Heading northwest, we cut across the meadow, then after about 200 steps these lead into a well-trodden sandy path. From here begins the world of sand that stretches through Hajdúság and Nyírség all the way to the Tisza. We recommend traveling this long, nearly 200 km section only on foot; biking it is very demanding!

We pass lonely homesteads, then after about ten minutes reach a junction. Turning right, we reach vineyards and wine barns. Beware! The board also marks the Kepecs-tag farmstead, which we will pass later, but we must not succumb to the temptation of taking the seemingly tempting and short route indicated on the board, as that would cause us to miss the Álmosd (Kék-Kálló-valley) stamping place at the end of a long detour!

After the right turn, we pass among houses and wine barns. After one kilometer, we join the main road for about a hundred steps going north, then turn right onto another sandy road.

Here the vineyards and wine barns continue, and after a few minutes we reach the folk house with a thatched roof. After about a thousand steps, we turn right in the settlement. We walk southeast about five hundred steps among the gardens, then passing next to a forest patch, we turn left. After 70-80 steps, at the next junction, we turn left again, cutting through the trees. On the far side of the small forest patch, enclosed gardens and small houses appear again. We walk along the sandy road past increasingly sparse farms, then after a few minutes reach the outskirts of the settlement. At the junction, turning right, we enter a particularly soft, sandy road. Here we are already at the edge of the forested plains; on the left, we can look along a long row of grassy sand dunes. After two hundred steps, at the next junction, we turn left and embark on the hump-sea.

Starting from the southern corner of a huge field bordered by forests, the sandy bike tracks roughly follow the southeastern edge of the forest, never straying far from the trees. We walk along the forest edge and climb every grassy sand dune along the way. These are not very high: they rise about 6-8 meters underfoot, but dozens of sand hills mean quite an ascent! This is a typical landscape of Hajdúság and Nyírség, with grass-covered shifting sand dunes, sandy acacias, and oak groves. (Until 2015, the Alföldi Blue Trail route led from Létavértes to Álmosd on asphalt; then this boring asphalt walk was replaced with this sandy dune area.)

About a kilometer down this path, we reach a forest, where at last we can walk in the shade of black locust tree crowns arching above the path—although the sandy road and dunes remain between the trees. Twenty minutes later, we leave the forest behind again. Now we are walking on the edge of the grassy plains again; the path winds under the outer trees. We trudge more than a kilometer under the blazing sun on the sandy road, then return to the forest. About 800 steps later, bike tracks join from the right. From here, in about twenty-five minutes, we reach the point where our route, which has so far headed roughly north, suddenly and sharply turns left at a junction, then goes almost backward, heading southwest. The Blue Trail stamp box is located at the junction on the signpost reading Gyorkány Hill.

After stamping, we walk for the first twenty to twenty-five minutes through the forest, then again come upon the plains. We walk about five hundred steps along the forest edge, circling a rounded forest corner. Here we must be alert again because we have to take a barely visible bike track heading left to cross this sandy dune meadow. If we have the right direction, after a few steps we cross a small creek on a footbridge and then head onto the grassy meadow.

Heading roughly south-southwest, our first target is a smaller group of trees we need to cross while keeping direction. If the tracks disappear, no problem: we aim for the forest corner extending into the meadow ahead, where we will see the well-trodden sandy bike tracks. From there, just follow them. We are again on the forest edge, then after six hundred steps at a "Y" junction, choosing the tracks on the right, we continue along the meadow edge and climb a large mound to glimpse before us the well-maintained building of the former school of Pungur Hill, still inhabited.

We pass in front of the building, then enter a somewhat more varied area. Sparse homesteads appear along the road; the grassy plains give way to plowed and cultivated fields. At the increasing junctions, always choose the bike tracks heading west-southwest! After a little more than half an hour, we reach the main road, which we cross straight over. Here we are barely more than two kilometers from the point where we first crossed this road!

We walk for a while longer in another forest patch, then emerge into meadows and hayfields. After crossing a row of trees, on the far side of the next meadow appears a wooded hillside. Crossing the meadow, we head straight, reaching the outer trees in a few minutes. We climb a terribly soft, sandy road to its top and descend on the west side to emerge from the forest right at the edge of the next meadow, near the Kepecs-tag farmstead. The road cuts straight through buildings and enclosures. If we want to stamp, we need to turn a few steps right off the road to the slightly battered information board set up next to the outer enclosure wooden fence, as the stamp box is fixed to one of its posts.

After stamping, crossing the farm road, we emerge onto the meadows again. About five hundred steps beyond the last buildings, we reach a "T" junction. Here we turn right, north, onto less worn bike tracks. Due to our huge detour south, the rarely marked K◼ signs return toward nearby Létavértes (to the junction we passed between the wine barns).

The upcoming section is on almost unwalked paths and bike tracks. Pay close attention to the rarely painted signs! First, we reach the southern end of a long meadow, walk along a narrow grassy section between trees, cross a forest strip at the end, and come out on the southern corner of another meadow. After 70-80 steps along the left side trees, we must notice very faint tracks leading left and continuing through this forest strip.

Here, at the edge of the other meadow, there is no further path visible. We continue roughly west-southwest, aiming for a selected spot in the forest bordering the meadow. After about four hundred steps, just before the trees, we reach the bank of the Monostori-ér ditch. Looking right and left, we should see the small bridge crossing it if our previous direction was good. Crossing it and entering the trees, we see a grassy path underfoot from the forest route. We wind through the forest patch following the path through the clearing. At the other edge, we again reach a meadow. Several tracks cross here; we must cut across roughly northwest, climbing a low mound. Before the trees, more well-trodden bike tracks turn downwards, and we enter the forest along the upper edge of the meadow. From this point, our path will be well-followed again, and the blue trail signs on the trees will increase.

We turn west among the trees and come to a "T" junction after about a thousand steps along a forest clearing. Here we turn right, heading north, continuing through the forest patches and meadows. The key on this section is to keep to the well-passable sandy bike tracks roughly north, even among branching or crossing tracks! After about half an hour of walking, we spot the buildings of Csohostó forest farmstead on the left of the road, which we pass, then turning northeast together with the road, return among the trees.

The forest bike tracks mostly head north and become more overgrown. As they lean northwest, the forest becomes denser, with only occasional small fields or meadows near the path. About half an hour after Csohostó, the bike tracks veer west-southwest in the forest, and then after two hundred steps, the K signs pull us off the road to sparsely used, heavily overgrown bike tracks! During summer, it becomes a real jungle battle on this scarcely one-thousand-step stretch; we even brush away cobwebs, as only blue trail hikers use this route. Luckily, we eventually reach sandy bike tracks coming from the former Patkány-Szűcs farmstead and continue on them.

Here the forest thins a bit: we walk mostly through meadows and cultivated fields; one or two farms farther from the path remain behind. After less than half an hour, a wide sandy road joins from the right. We continue on it, now again in the forest. After some time, the forest road bends from northwest to southwest, and we reach the fenced property of the Two Oaks Guesthouse marked as a resort on our map, where we find the Blue Trail stamp on the OKK direction post by the road.

From here, the shady forest hike ends: various ages of clearings and cuttings multiply beside our path. After about half an hour, we reach the next fork, turning left, heading south-southwest, mostly in the forest again. Although the blue signs are not often painted, we can trust the slightly winding path and it is difficult to stray from. After a mostly uneventful, about one-hour walk, we reach the busy, recently widened and resurfaced main road 4814 between Debrecen and Létavértes, which we cross and continue right towards Debrecen alongside. We do not stay long on the roadside: we pass the empty plot of the former Ludas inn, then after about 600 steps turn left into the trees.

We reach a small forest loading area after a few dozen steps. Here the tracks bend right and run parallel to the main road we just left. After a few minutes, we reach the edge of the old forest, and the path continues through a young black locust plantation only a few years old—very overgrown in summer! We can only progress by pushing aside the thin young branches. Fortunately, this path is not too long, and after a few minutes it merges on the far edge of the locust plantation to a wider bike track starting from the main road.

Here again we have well-trodden, sandy bike tracks underfoot, which remain for quite a while as we roughly follow the southwest direction between meadows and forest patches. After about an hour, we reach a forest junction where, abandoning our southwest direction, we turn right heading west. After about three hundred steps, we reach the forest edge. Here the sandy path, following the outer trees, leans right, north, but we must not follow it! We must continue straight on barely visible tracks, walking about five hundred steps along the southern edge of the meadow on barely visible paths, then turn into the trees at the next forest corner. Cutting through the forest patch, meadows appear again, then after about a thousand steps at the next forest patch, a gravel road crosses below us. After 700-800 steps, we reach the main road 4808 between Debrecen and Hosszúpályi.

The blue signs do not turn onto the asphalt but just before it turn right back into the forest. We can stamp near the Katihíd bus stop, at the information board. However, if we want to rest by the lake, we must walk about 350 meters along the edge of the asphalt road.

If we do not detour toward the lake, we don't need to go out onto the asphalt but turn back into the forest along the Kati-ér shore. The ditch bank bike tracks are passable in spring but in mid-summer overgrown with weeds; it becomes a real jungle fight to progress! On the left is a deep ditch, on the right the forest; the few meters wide strip between them cannot be left in either direction, and we must struggle for over a kilometer. Relief comes when we turn right away from the water and soon reach a gravel forest road. Turning right, south, after a few hundred steps, the shore of the Mézeshegyi Lake appears. At the sharp corner, we find the alternative stamping place if we haven't stamped earlier.

Turning left off the gravel road, we follow the lakeside bike tracks northeast. We may be lucky to admire the lake surface bordered with rushes and reeds. Water levels fluctuate significantly: depending on precipitation during the period, the lake practically dries out in dry weather but fills quickly with rain.

Several lakes can be found in the area. Their purpose was to create a recreation area for the growing population of Debrecen in the 1970s, where visitors can find everything needed for relaxation and entertainment. Unfortunately, many things have been destroyed over time, from the Vekeri lookout tower to the lakefront pioneer camp; people's needs have changed in recent decades. Nowadays, only anglers use the lakes. They are slowly overgrown with rushes and reeds; most lose their lake character and blend fully into the landscape — only their dams hint at their artificial nature. Along our route, we pass several reservoirs: after Mézeshegyi Lake come the Fancsika lakes, then finally the Bodzás reservoir.

After the lakeside walk, turning away from the water, we return to the same gravel road where we just walked a few hundred steps. Walking northeast along the east edge of a clearing, the forest trees meet overhead again. After about a kilometer, we reach another clearing growing rows of young trees. At its edge, at a junction, we turn left, then after about 150 steps turn right and proceed north-northeast along a sunken sandy road running between a few-year-old row of saplings. Here we enter the old forest again. To the right, occasionally we can see plowed fields between the trees; after passing a site, we come out onto the meadows. Passing by boarding stables and fenced running yards of horse farms, we reach the recently widened and resurfaced road between Debrecen and Létavértes, where we already passed the plot of the former Ludas inn.

The Alföldi Blue Trail marked route here turns right, southeast, and leads on the main road a little to the building of the Bánki Reformed Primary School, where we turn left off the road. At the corner of the school fence, on a tree, you will find the stamp.

If time permits, you can make another detour to visit the Bánki arboretum. The park entrance is only 1-1.5 km walk from the stamping place. (Incidentally, another Blue Trail stamp is also available at the arboretum entrance from the car park.)

After stamping, return to the junction where we arrived from the Vekeri Lake side. Following the signs, after two hundred steps, we reach a left-turning sandy road that runs for 700 steps along the edge of a plowed field. After that, the forest swallows us again, and after a few minutes we reach the corner of the weekend house area in Bánk. We cross over the Derecskei-Kálló canal on a bridge and immediately turn left between the outer gardens and the canal.

Following the winding canal bank road, in about fifteen minutes, we reach the end of the weekend houses. Here we cross the canal again on a bridge and continue on its left bank. After ten minutes, we climb a grassy embankment. A new little pond appears before us: the romantically named Fancsika-III reservoir. Like Mézeshegyi Lake, its water level also fluctuates strongly: in drier periods, it probably only looks like a depression covered by rush and reed on the inner side of the dam.

We go around the reservoir on the east side, then pass by the Fancsika-II reservoir. For a short time, a narrow asphalt road runs underfoot but soon ends, and only the now familiar sandy forest road remains below. About twenty minutes after the junction, near the edge of a young forest plantation, at another junction, we turn right, east, and for a while return to the old forest.

Later, we leave behind the mixed forest and cross the Bodzás-ér ditch on a small bridge. We cut through meadows in the shade of a tree line following our path, then more forest patches follow. Although the signs are not very dense, they guide us well on this section. Leaving the mentioned junction, after about twenty-five minutes, we reach the last forest pond on our route, the Bodzás reservoir. At its southern tip, on a nature protection board, we find the Blue Trail stamp. We walk along the winding dam on the southern shore of the pond, then continue along the canal built to drain the basin. At the sluice closing the canal, we turn onto a crossing sandy road and head north.

An entirely uneventful path begins here. First, the heavily sandy road curves north underfoot, then at a junction, turning right, we head east-northeast. About an hour of forest walking from the sluice sees us reach the railway line between Debrecen and Nyírábrány. We cross the rails, then walk out along the edge of the forest belt to the busy main road 48. At the bus stop, crossing to the opposite side of the road, heading east, we reach in a few minutes the wide, heavily sandy road leading to the former Halápi inn.

Near Debrecen, our tour touches two "former" inns. Only the site remains of the Ludas inn, but the Halápi inn is still standing, although closed for years. Like many others, these were built in the 18th century; the Halápi inn opened in 1778 along the then busy main transport route connecting Debrecen and Szatmárnémeti. It was a real outlaw inn: reportedly, a tunnel was built from the building into the surrounding forest to help outlaws hiding in the tavern escape if policemen appeared. After World War II, the inn became property of the cooperative. It was converted into a general store and feed store; the dairy collecting milk from local farms was established here and transported it to Debrecen. After the dissolution of cooperatives and privatization, the shops were liquidated, and finally, the inn itself closed.

The Blue Trail stamp at the end of our route is located on the information board in front of the former inn.