Csóványos lookout tower

You can enjoy a real mountainous view from the 938-meter high Csóványos surrounded by forested mountains. There are only a few signs of human settlements except the Great-Cold-Hill (Nagy-Hideg-hegy) hikers’ lodge and the ski slopes. To identify the elements of the full panoramic landscape we have information boards on the handrail. We can see the Danube Bend and its mountains, Naszály Hill rising solitary on the edge of the Great Plain, as well as the winding Danube and Visegrád Mountains. Behind the chopped hills we also can discover the peak of János Hill. To identify the Citadel (Fellegvár) at Visegrád and the Szent- Mihály Hill you will need a telescope. The huge mass of Pilis-tető and the lump of Gerecse seem to emerge from the plain.

Just below your feet the volcanic caldera of Börzsöny unfolds. Only Fekete Creek and its tributaries cross the rim making a long and many smaller valleys.  There are no highlands around, only blunt peaks and ridges of various size, stuck among lower lands.

Northward behind the gradually lowering hills of Börzsöny we can see Selmec Hills with Szitnya hill, the rolling hills of Madaras, and the mass of Jávoros. They are all ‘’brothers’’ of volcanic Börzsöny regarding their origin. Rarely, especially in times of winter anticyclone we can be lucky enough to see the rocks of Magas-Tátra ( High Tatras). Eastward, in the background of Cserhát Hills, the ridges of Mátra lay.

The view from here is special because you are surrounded by a real mountainous area, however, we are close to lower lands so height differences can be easily sensed. Peaks can be approached by long trips which also increase the sense of great distance. This is a closed world, almost untouched, which is quite unique in the country.

The core of the 22-meter high tower is a geodesic concrete cylinder. Formerly, its rusty iron ladder needed to be climbed for the panoramic view but Ipoly Erdő Forestry Company has recently renovated it. Today the top of the tower is accessible by climbing the stairs of a new structure built around it with information boards on Börzsöny Mountains, local wildlife, ethnography, and geology at each floor.

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