Volcano hike around Ajnácskő

Itinerary

• Starting from the bus stop towards the castle (Hrad Hajnáčka) following the Z mark.
• We turn left onto the S mark at the ruined manor found on the right side of the street and climb between houses under the castle. From here we reach the castle on an unmarked, wide walking path, then return to the marked trail.
• The S trail leads out of the village and then winds up the Zaboda Rock (Zaboda) via fields and forest paths that are sometimes difficult to follow.
• From Zaboda Rock, we descend on the S trail into a saddle (Pod Zabodu), where we turn left onto the Z trail.
• We ascend on the Z trail to the top of Szárkő (Steblová Skala), then return the same way to the saddle.
• Following the Z trail in the opposite direction, we descend to the forestry road, cross it, and climb towards our final peak, the Ragács (Ragáč).
• Upon reaching the ridge, the K trail joins from the left. Here we turn right and, with a steep climb following both Z and K marks, conquer the peak.
• From the Ragács peak, the Z trail leads us down to the already known forestry road, then continues back to the village.

Detailed description of the hike

From Ajnácskő to Zaboda Rock

Ajnácskő – with its almost surreal rock tower in the center – is an ideal starting point for a tour exploring the parts of the Novohrad-Gömöri basalt region across the border. The beautifully situated village center surrounds this extraordinary rock needle, which is naturally tied to legend and where a castle once stood for a rather adventurous and long period. Today, only minimal remains exist. What is visible now is the inner volcanic vent filled with solidified, hard magma (a vent fill prepared by erosion in technical terms), while the crater formed of softer material during the volcanic debris phase has been completely eroded over time.

We start on the street towards the castle on the Z mark but quickly switch to the S mark climbing up to the castle gate. Although the trail itself does not go into the castle, this few-minute detour is worth taking: Ajnácskő is likely one of the most picturesque villages in the Carpathian Basin, and the view from above is magnificent, not to mention the surrounding mountain scenery.

According to the earliest data, after the Tatar invasion, King Bela IV granted the land here in 1247 to Mikó, son of Detre of Zólyom, to build a castle on a suitable hill. Later, the king confiscated the castle due to disloyalty, and its fate changed hands many times amid historical turmoil, with occasional Turkish incursions through the castle gate. In the 1670s, the garrison of Ajnácskő belonged to the castle troops of Fiľk (Fiĺkov), and literature suggests the castle survived the 1682 siege of Fiľk intact. From that point, its strategic importance increased, and its garrison actively participated in battles against the Kuruc rebels. However, the building burned down in 1703. Nonetheless, the last occupants, the Vay sisters, still lived in the castle in 1744, as they inherited half of it after the Vécsey family. They left the castle at an unknown date, and the stones from the now uninhabited, decaying walls were taken by local residents, so today one can mostly admire the former volcanic vent fill creating the impression of a natural fortress.

Returning to the S mark, we continue through the village for a while, then make a sharp right turn between houses onto the field path leading to Zaboda Rock. As we steadily ascend the field paths (navigation is recommended here due to difficult trail marking), it is worth occasionally turning around, as the unfolding landscape becomes more picturesque with views of the village of Ajnácskő below, the Pogánykő behind it, as well as the Medves Plateau and Szilvás Rock dominating the background. Entering the beautiful oak forest, we soon reach the sign indicating the highest level of protection for Zaboda Rock, where stone columns bearing witness to ancient volcanism open up, especially impressive on the far side of the peak.

The geowonders of Zaboda Rock

Zaboda Rock is a remnant of a lava flow originating from the neighboring Hegyes-kő volcano. To understand how lava could have flowed at the summit and why it did not flow into the valley, it is useful to look at the landscape through a volcanologist's eyes. What we see today is essentially a negative imprint: what is high today was low in the past. Massive layered volcanoes similar to Etna did not operate here; instead, basalt flowed into valleys formed in sediments laid down in the once-wave-covered sea. Because the volcanic rocks emerging on the surface are much more resistant than the surrounding rocks, they have eroded less and in some cases were uplifted by tectonic movements. They also protected the sediment layers directly beneath them. This is why similar mountains are called witness mountains. Part of the lava flow of Zaboda Rock has also eroded, forming a small "plateau" whose edges, similarly to the nearby Pogányvár, consist of steep cliffs and thick basalt columns. Along the path descending on the far side of the mountain (still on the S trail), enormous moss-covered cliffs stand out in the quiet forest.

Standing on the basalt columns of Szárkő

The S trail soon reaches a clearing (Pod Zabodu), where the Z trail joins from both sides. We turn left here to explore the stunning volcanic shapes of Szárkő. From the long-followed gentle forest path, the trail makes a sharp right turn and heads sharply up to the summit. The path is quite steep and slippery, so watch your step! Basalt columns appear on the left side, but first aim for the summit for its spectacular panorama. From here, you can see the neighboring Zaboda Rock and Ragács, below are the houses of Gortva-puszta, in the background the largest basalt mass in Slovakia, Bucsony, and on the horizon, in one direction the slopes of the Slovak Ore Mountains, and on the other the serrated peaks of Mátra and Bükk.

The spectacular and rather isolated peak of Szárkő is a large volcanic neck, an erosion-exposed volcanic vent on the surface. Its impressive "imprints" are basalt columns nearly 50 meters high standing almost vertically around the summit; these formed columnar shapes as the lava slowly cooled in the vent. According to the GeoPark booklet, this volcanic vent opened into a crater about 150 meters in diameter, filled with basalt lava, remnants of which can be found around the main peak. Move carefully around the summit and basalt columns due to the great heights! After admiring the sights, return on the Z trail to the previously known clearing (Pod Zabodu) to take on the fourth and perhaps the most beautiful volcanic fortress, Ragács.

In the primeval forest of Ragács

Leaving the clearing on the Z trail in the opposite direction, we quickly reach the forestry road coming from Ajnácskő, cross it, and immediately start up the Ragács massif. On the ridge (Pod Deravym cerom), the Z trail joins the K trail, where we turn right and ascend to the spectacular peak via further climbs. Ragács is different, as even untrained eyes may notice. Not only because the rocks here are larger but also because of their composition and texture. The peak is made of slag cone with embedded bombs, slag, and lava fragments. Its former activity is closer to a typical explosive volcano. It is easy to find porous, hence quite lightweight, black stones that clearly formed from lava solidified from gas- and air-filled lava fragments (making them light). The much larger rocks called volcanic bombs are also porous near the summit, indicating the high gas content of lava and the explosive nature of the volcanism.

The strong volcanic processes resulted in a spectacular about 9-meter-deep vertical exhalation vent directly beneath the summit. These exhalation caves and cavities formed from fumaroles emitting hot solutions, steam, and gases during both the volcanic debris and post-volcanic phases. These created often accessible cylindrical conduits in still-plastic rocks (today we see impressions of gas bubbles trapped in cooling lava). From Ragács, there's a great view not only over the transboundary Novohrad-Nógrád GeoPark area but also the wild Vajdavár-Medves region. The debris-covered slopes under Ragács are also spectacular, adding to the mystical atmosphere of the pristine forest and proving that a significant lava flow once poured out of this volcano.

From the top of Ragács, another Z trail steeply zigzags down to the previously crossed forestry road, then follows left down back to the village of Ajnácskő.