Zádorfalva – Jósvafő (OKT Day 56 Hike)

You’ll find the Zádorfalva postmark next to the bus shelter, at the Szivárvány café; after getting your postmark, head north on Nagy Road toward the Aggtelek Karst.

Zádorfalva is located in the southeastern part of the historic Gömör County, so it has traditionally been linked to its larger cities, Rozsnyó and Rimaszombat. Its architecture also reflects the style of the Upper Lands, a trait evident in the town’s numerous historic buildings—including the Reformed church standing on the hill right in front of us, which was built in 1802. Notable features include its painted coffered wooden ceiling and its floor plan: a tower was built on the longer side of the east–west-oriented nave, giving it a somewhat unusual appearance.

We leave Zádorfalva via the paved road leading toward Ragály, and after a short 1.5-kilometer stretch, the K trail markers branch off from it, and we climb one of the treeless hills on the outskirts of the village, which was once used as pastureland. From here, a beautiful, sweeping panorama opens up over the gently rolling landscape of the Putnok Hills; the Újhegyi lookout tower above Szuhafő comes into view, and in the distance, the massif of the Bükk Mountains is also visible.

The magnificent view continues until we reach the forest of Nagy-Szőlő-tető. The mountain’s name—much like that of Gömörszőlős, which we passed through on the previous section of the Blue Trail—refers to the region’s once-extensive grape cultivation, which is no longer typical of the area. We’re at an elevation of roughly 350 meters, and this sets the elevation for the next 10 kilometers of the hike: we’ll be walking across the Aggtelek Karst plateau with only gentle undulations.

Although classic karst formations are absent, we are, in fact, already in a limestone region. In the part of the mountain range lying south of Aggtelek, a so-called “covered karst” has formed, meaning the bedrock is covered by a thick non-karst layer. This is why we do not see the landforms—which have actually formed deeper underground—such as sinkholes, dolines, and karst fields, that will define the later part of our journey.

We wind our way through the forest for a long time, sometimes on a trail, sometimes on forest roads that get very muddy in the rain; the route is lined mainly by sessile oaks and hornbeams. Although our route is by no means spectacular—in fact, it’s quite monotonous—it’s enlivened by the alternating forest sections, each with its own distinct atmosphere: in some places, older trees; in others, younger ones; in some, denser stands; and in others, more open groves.

After walking about 6 kilometers, we reach the crumbling asphalt of the old highway between Trizs and Tornalja, then take a trail toward the section running along the Slovak–Hungarian border. The atmosphere of the forest remains unchanged; at most, navigating around the border markers provides a bit of excitement. The trail is hard to miss, with signs lined up densely, but it’s clearly not the most well-trodden section of the Blue Trail: the overgrown path presents challenges, so watch out for ticks!

With the Gömör–Szepesi Mountain Range visible to our left, we arrive at the Aggtelek border crossing, then, turning right onto the paved road, we soon reach the entrance to Baradla Cave. There are two places to get your passport stamped: on the wall in front of the campground reception desk or at the visitor center, where you can verify your visit.

The Baradla–Domica cave system, added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1995, is one of Hungary’s most famous cave systems. Although its length of over 30 km is only enough to place it on the second step of the podium—behind the Pál Valley caves—its scenery is truly breathtaking. Water seeping down from the surface, combined with the limestone, has formed stalactites and stalagmites of various sizes, as well as stalagmite columns: the lime dissolved in the water droplets entering the cave through cracks is immediately precipitated, gradually building up these formations over millions of years.

Aggtelek – Jósvafő

The Blue Trail climbs up a concrete staircase to the iconic, dark-gray rock face of Baradla Cave; from the top, a beautiful view opens up to the south, revealing the Bükk Mountains, while to the north, the edge of Slovakia’s mountainous region is also visible. The 50-meter-high cliff’s name, of Slavic origin (Bradlo, from which the Hungarian name Baradla is derived), means “rocky cliff”—which is hardly surprising, given how far away the cliff appears, gleaming white amid the forested mountain slopes.

After a short climb, we turn right onto a level trail that leads along the side of the Baradla summit covered in karst fields—rocks protruding from the ground, some of them quite sharp, make our steps difficult. As we walk through the open karst scrub forest, the panoramic view is almost uninterrupted; we have a particularly good view of Aggtelek. Continuing in this direction, we arrive in the Mész Valley, where a closed-canopy forest community has developed due to its cool microclimate; from here on, our path leads through a “classic” forest.

Although the forest is classic, the landforms are less so. The valleys of the karst region were typically not formed by surface watercourses, but rather by a series of sinkholes that absorb them. In the Mész Valley, too, we can observe the depressions of these sinkholes, just as we can in several places along the hiking trail winding across the karst plateau. We gently undulate up and down until, after a steeper descent, we reach the junction marked with the “K” symbol leading to the Jósvafő entrance of the Baradla Cave. Although we’ll have the chance to get our trail stamp in Jósvafő as well, it’s worth taking a detour here—and later along the “S” trail— to the Jósva Spring and the charming Tengerszem lake next to it.

The country’s most abundant spring is the “outflow” of the Baradla Cave’s subterranean stream; its water travels a short distance before reaching the Tengerszem basin. We’re talking about an artificial lake, not an actual “tengerszem” (which actually refers to a lake formed in the depressions of the landscape left behind after glaciers retreated). The dam closing off the valley and the hydroelectric power plant generating electricity were completed in 1935. During this period, Hubert Kessler was the director of the cave, and he played a major role in boosting tourism: in addition to the walking trail circling the lake, the Tengerszem Hotel and the Aggtelek Cave Hotel were also built at this time.

Now that we’re here at Tengerszem, we can even follow the PT markers on the Fürkész nature trail into Jósvafő, but if we want to cover every meter of the Blue Trail, let’s head back to the saddle where we left it. We gradually descend toward the village, passing a stop on the nature trail—there’s a rest area next to it— then at the corner of the cemetery, it’s worth taking a short detour to a lookout point from which you can look down on the Jósva Valley, the mountains bordering it, and Jósvafő itself.

The K trail markers cut through the village’s abandoned Jewish cemetery, where only the inscriptions in Hungarian and Hebrew on the weathered headstones serve as a reminder of Jósvafő’s former Jewish community. From here, it’s just a few steps to the Reformed church, surrounded by a medieval defensive wall, whose coffered, painted wooden ceiling can be viewed from the inside on weekends. Next to it stands the Baroque bell tower, built in 1851.

The Blue Trail descends onto Táncsics Mihály Street, where it turns left, bypassing the town center. However, after getting our stamp at the corner of Táncsics and József Attila Streets, we’ll definitely be sure to visit it, as Jósvafő has so many interesting sights to offer.