Cycling in the Vajdavár region forest wilderness

Itinerary

• From the center of Pétervására we cycle along main road 23 through Tarnalelesz, where we turn left onto Kossuth Lajos Street.
• The street and the Z mark lead along the Leleszi stream into the heart of the Vajdavár region.
• After traveling about 8 kilometers in the valley, we turn right on a forest dirt road following the K mark, then where the mark sharply breaks right up a steep mountainside, we have to push the bike for a short distance.
• At the second, unmarked forestry road crossed by the K mark, we turn left and follow it.
• The K mark joins, we follow it, but after a while it turns right, we stay on the roughly flat forestry dirt road.
• The K mark joins again, but we only follow it for 100 meters.
• We turn sharply right onto the P mark, which soon reaches a wide forest transport road.
• Together with this mark, we turn right, then after about 1 km at the fork turn left, now descending on an unmarked paved forestry road into the Gyepes valley. Meanwhile, the K mark joins from the left.
• Before Dobronyatanya, we turn left onto an also paved forestry road marked K+.
• Leaving the K+ mark to the right, we cross the Palina valley on an unmarked forestry road.
• We turn left on the S mark, which we follow until Palinapuszta.
• At the abandoned hunting lodge of Palinapuszta, we keep right and follow the valley on an unmarked cart road past an ancient orchard.
• Leaving the meadows accompanying the road, we turn left in the forest together with the unmarked cart road and climb up to the top of Köte-bérc, where the S mark joins from the left.
• We follow the S mark keeping right.
• After 1 kilometer, we turn left onto the Z mark and glide downhill on the wide forestry road.
• At Vaskapu, we leave the mark, sharply turn right onto a wide, unmarked forestry transport road that leads down to the Hosszú valley stream.
• Following the forestry road, we glide along the stream where the K mark joins.
• On the unmarked asphalt road, touching Dávidtanya and Szalajkaház, we roll down to Váraszó.
• In Váraszó, we take a short detour to the church.
• On the unmarked main road, through Erdőkövesd, we return back to Pétervására.

Detailed description of the tour

Introduction to the "soul" of the Vajdavár region

Fortunately, traffic on the road between Pétervására and Tarnalelesz is relatively light, so with careful progress we can get an idea of the characteristics of this magical region just by looking around. On most maps, the area labeled as the Heves–Borsod hills has oddly not developed a uniformly accepted name in geographic literature until recently. Browsing maps, one may encounter names like Ó-Bükk, Vajdavár Mountains, Ózd Mountains, or Ózd–Pétervására Hills, but Hungary's National Atlas officially names it Vajdavár region, denoting the truly independent geographic unit between the Hódos, Hangony, and Leleszi streams and the Tarna.

This designation is fortunate as it answers the other debated question: is this a hill or a medium mountain? The height of dozens of peaks in the area exceeds 500 meters above sea level, which is the official threshold to call a landscape a medium mountain (not to mention the steepness of slopes which also clearly gives the central area a medium mountain character). Officially, the smaller landscape covering the area is called a "mountain-ward hills," but the slope conditions and elevation of the central part clearly give it a mountainous character according to scientific criteria. We witness the varied landscape along the way and while twisting upwards in the Leleszi valley: the once grazed slopes around Tarnalelesz covered with meadows and groves are replaced by dense, closed forests of steep hillsides.

The sandy soil also stands out because the Miocene sandstone deposited in the former sedimentary basin of the Vajdavár is another characteristic of the mountains. We encounter two types of it: sedimented fine-grained clayey sand in shallow marine environments undisturbed by currents, versus the sandstone forming significant rock walls. This is explained by the coarse-grained glauconitic, so-called "shoe-like" (interspersed with harder sandstone blocks) sandstone sedimented in well-mixed shallow sea water, mostly cemented by carbonate binders. Although the road does not reveal it, such rock walls adorn the valley from both sides.

Turning left at Tarnalelesz on the Z mark after leaving the village, we enter a nature conservation area marked by signs as well: 89% of the Tarnavidék Landscape Protection Area overseeing the natural values of the region is forest, so we go through beautiful, varied woods.

Deep in the forest

At the bottom of the wide valley, the winding stream is flanked by a grove forest consisting of resinous alder and tall ash, making the route wild. Reaching the K mark, our water supplies are likely still sufficient, but if not, it is worth making a detour to the nearby Vállóspuszta, where beside the cooling water of the Csurgó well, we can admire a protected timbered forest house with a columned porch and hipped roof. This central house used to be lively, as the Palóc dialect calls the animals’ watering place "válló", and browsing the map, names hinting at animal husbandry frequently appear.

If the detour is skipped, turning right at the K mark, we push our bike up a steep slope in beech forest envied by any other well-regarded medium mountain highly appreciated by hikers. Luckily, this strenuous section is short, and riding again we continue on a gently climbing forest road (on the left branch of the second intersecting forest road). Here the mentioned characteristic sandstone base rock of the area, called apoka by local Palóc people, appears at many points. The relatively soft, easily eroding sandstone creates the very rugged terrain with sharp ridges and steep slopes, which is mirrored by vegetation as well. We experience alder swamps forming in seepage valleys in cool microclimates, mostly beech forests on northern slopes. The atmospheric, wide forestry road shows that the southern side is dominated by barren, warmth-loving forest associations, mostly Pannonian turkey oak forests, while across the path the Vajdavár region’s treasure, the beech forests of the Pataj Forest Reserve, covers the hillside. This vivid terrain results in many rare plants and animals both sub-Mediterranean and distinctly mountain species.

It is also notable that on the K path we are on one of the country’s best regional routes, the Foundrymen’s Route, established in 1968 along Salgótarján, Ózd, and Diósgyőr. Our tour does not touch the main summit, as we leave the mark and stay on a level wide forestry road. The Ökör Hill, however, can be visited by a short detour. There once was a lookout tower, but even today we get a wonderful view from it toward Bükk and the Gyepes valley below. Continuing, we soon reach the P mark, which denotes the Partizán route from Hangony Lake to Borsodnádasd. It was painted in the 1960s and at the junction we can see its decade-old metal sign.

After descending to the wide forest transport road follows a long glide in the Gyepes valley, a highly significant nature conservation area today (a little lower, the K mark joins the forestry asphalt road from the left). We can refill water supplies at the Remete spring, which is also an excellent place to rest and observe. Before 1945, this land belonged to the Rimamurány–Salgótarján Ironworks Corporation and intensive logging took place for charcoal production at the beginning of the last century. It is no wonder that there once was a forest railway penetrating the untouched woods to today’s Remete hunting lodge. (The charming Remete hunting lodge standing beside the spring is unfortunately empty, and the excellent Keserű valley guesthouse further down closed in 2023.)

Ancient orchard in the Vajdavár region’s forest wilderness

Changing to a side valley before Dobronyatanya, we start climbing on the K+ mark along the paved forestry road – staying on this until the bottom of Palina valley, despite several deviations from the mark. The former Palina puszta is now abandoned, but the name preserves the memory of the typical farmstead economy once characteristic to our mountain areas. Here we turn right into the side valley on an unmarked forestry road.

Beside Palina-fő, the source of the Palina stream, we find a rare treasure, an ancient orchard. Once it was the Bihary family pasture, then between 1928-1931 retired gendarme Géza Sulány planted a 14-hectare orchard here with about three thousand apple and plum trees planted in a modern 7x7 grid. Cattle grazed in the Vizes valley nearby, pigs fed in the forest, and there was even a gardener’s house. After nationalization, the orchard quickly declined and by the 1970s only grazing remained. As a result, the orchard became forested, some trees died, and the grasslands hosting rare species became bushy. After about fifty years of neglect, the Bükk National Park Directorate bought the area in the early 2000s and renovated it in 2014-2015. The orchard is now fenced to protect from game damage, and an information board before the fence provides images of its special species. We cycle up the Köte-bérc on a very pleasant forest road, briefly follow the S mark, and then turn left onto the Z mark, quickly descending beside the Hosszú valley stream. The marked path cuts off some bends of the forestry road we follow, and further down the K mark joins.

Long farewell by the Hosszú valley stream

Although except for a small uphill bend the road descends to Váraszó, similarly as in the Leleszi valley, this southern valley is very long, giving us time to observe! Let’s follow the wide, lower paved, unmarked forestry road all the way! From the former farmstead Dávidtanya, only a few ruined stone walls remain, but Szalajkaház is renovated and awaits guests. Contrary to its name, the nearby Forró well has refreshingly cool water, which we can use to refill supplies if it has dried up.

Above Váraszó, we pass oddly named, picturesque mountain fishing lakes, then after a short detour we stop at the village’s famously ancient church built around 1200, to admire its old atmosphere. The church, having a two-cell, semicircular apse sanctuary, is accompanied by a wooden bell tower and surrounded by a cemetery with stone walls. A local museum house also operates in the village, and from the church – like a farewell - we get a fantastic view of the much more imposing Mátra massif to the north.

From Váraszó, we return back to Pétervására along the main road through Erdőkövesd.