Elevation gain in the Mátra

Itinerary

• Start from the Görgőbikki rest area on Görgőbikki road (blue cycling route)! After about 5.5 kilometers on the asphalted forestry road, at a right hairpin turn, take a left turn – here, the designated route continues on the paved road. (It is surely recognizable by the Mátravasút posted timetable.)
• At the next junction of the forestry dozer road about 150 meters ahead, also turn left towards Halmaj meadow.
• After about three kilometers, at the intersection of forestry roads (marked as Csipár meadow on some maps), sharply turn right, onto the ascending road! After two kilometers of climbing, at the crossroads, turn left, then 200 meters further, turn left again – from here, follow the forestry access road until you reach the Görgőbikki road's asphalt strip.
• Turn left onto the asphalt (yellow cycling route) and follow it all the way to the road connecting Pásztó and the Mátra saddle. At the fork of the asphalt roads, turn left, then immediately right at the first junction towards Mátraszentimre. In Mátraszentimre, go straight along Rákóczi street to the middle of the village, then turn right onto Széchenyi István street (K+ marking). Follow the sign at the end of the street and continue on the forest road without detours until you reach the base of the Mátraszentistván ski slope!
• In Mátraszentistván, cycle straight through, then follow the village's exit serpentine! Among the first houses of Mátraszentlászló, turn left onto a small street (behind the Vadász Tourist Center) leading to a forestry road. Upon reaching it, keep right, then follow the forestry road until it meets asphalt (Mátraalmás road).
• Turn right on the asphalt and from there follow the blue cycling route until the end of the tour! Upon reaching the Pásztó road, turn left, then after a few hundred meters, turn right onto a forestry road. From here, there is only one junction ahead (“Charcoal burners”), turn left and follow the asphalted forestry road (Görgőbikki road) back to the starting point.

Detailed description of the tour

Cycling in the Mátra

The tour starts from the small parking lot at the beginning of Görgőbikki road on the blue marked cycling route. In 2016, the forestry designated a total of 90 kilometers of cycling terrain in the Mátra. As part of the project, some forestry roads were renovated to be safer for cycling, 14 cyclist rest areas were created, and several routes were specially recommended for families. Our experience contradicted this quickly as we overtook tired small children after a few kilometers. The route is recommended from about 12-13 years on for the cycling path leading through almost alpine landscapes. Cycling in the mountain air is truly refreshing in the summer heat, especially as it is a few degrees cooler on the tree-surrounded forest roads. Nature welcomes us with a unique calm and the scent of pine, which is unparalleled in Hungary. Many go abroad to admire such highland landscapes dotted with pine forests and log cabins, yet no place is better suited than the Mátra.

However, a glance at the map already makes it clear that sporty families should set out to the Mátra because it is difficult to find a route without crossing numerous contour lines – but let's not get ahead of ourselves!

Görgőbikki junction - Mátraszentimre

We start on one of the designated routes, the Görgőbikki road, branching off from road 24 running north-south through the Mátra, leading all the way to Mátraszentimre or through Mátraalmás to Bátonyterenye. The blue cycling signs mark a forestry road closed to public traffic; it is fully asphalted, with several sections new surfaced – you may either roll or climb depending on terrain conditions. Wherever we head in the Mátra, be prepared to overcome many elevation changes. Our route descends for the first five kilometers, mostly coasting down to the Gyöngyös stream valley.

After crossing the stream, at the next hairpin, turn left off the asphalt; on the forestry dozer road, turn left and soon the Nagy-Halmaj meadow opens before us. The clearing is perfect for a picnic or rest while dozens of dragonflies dart around. A few years ago, there was a centuries-old oak beside the road but it was struck by lightning – now young shoots, enclosed by a fence, strive toward the sky in its place.

After the meadow, we descend a short stony slope to a section promising a fine view, then at the forestry road junction (Csipár meadow), we sharply turn right, inevitably starting to climb the several hundred meters in elevation because we set Mátraszentimre, Hungary’s highest settlement, as our route’s destination. The path up there does not offer many attractions but the forest exudes an endless calm rarely experienced on other cycling tours due to road traffic. We travel on forestry access roads for a long time; with some luck, you may encounter roe deer in the undisturbed depths of the forest. The road ascends steadily but not exhausting, until reaching the Görgőbikki road again, on its branch leading towards Mátraszentimre. Turn left and follow the yellow cycling sign marked asphalt road.

After a short descent, which is worth interrupting for a photo for the beautiful viewpoint overlooking Galyatető and the Cseternás valley, we face continuous climbing until the end of the forestry road. At Bőgős meadow, there is another rest area and choice: right to Galyatető, left to Mátraszentimre, straight ahead to Mátraszentlászló and Mátraszentistván. The many names are deceptive; the Slovak villages in the Mátra today all belong to Mátraszentimre, and all three can easily be explored by bike via a small loop.

Glassblowers and Slovak compatriots in the Mátra

Mátraszentimre is a popular destination for tourists and those seeking relaxation nowadays, but this was not always the case. The settlements’ old names (Ötházhuta, Fiskalitáshuta, and Felsőhuta – getting their current names in 1938 during the Saint Stephen memorial year) reveal that glass production was once an important industry among the Mátra mountains. Today, a glass manufactory in Parádsasvár recalls the old craft. After World War II, the Slovak-Hungarian population exchange deported the Slovak compatriots, of whom mostly only family names remain alongside the strapacska available in every restaurant and the Slovak language classes at school.

Tourism boomed in the 1960s and 1970s in the three small villages – except in Galyatető, also part of the settlement, where the Nagyszálló was completed by 1939. Although some former company holiday resorts and guesthouses have fallen into decay, all three settlement parts have restaurants, inns, and accommodations – it’s worth mentioning the Slovak dishes available everywhere and the Kétkerék guesthouse in Mátraszentlászló, whose name already reveals it welcomes cyclists.

From Mátraszentimre back to the start

At the top of the ski park in Mátraszentimre, a beautiful view welcomes the tired hiker. Visiting the former huts, two routes lie ahead: either continue on the terrain for a while without much more elevation gain or head towards Galyatető. Although the extra elevation is worth it because the renovated lookout on Péter-hegyes offers breathtaking panoramic views and Galyatető Tourist Center provides many cyclist-friendly services, we still recommend the forest’s silence on this tour. To do this, near the junction of the Mátraszentlászló and Mátraszentistván roads, behind the Vadász Tourist Center, take the small street leaving the asphalt and turn onto the forestry road winding under Galyatető, following it to its eastern end. Here, you reach the asphalt road leading to Mátraalmás, where turn right and follow the K mark to the starting point of the tour.

We continue collecting elevation up to the road connecting Pásztó with the Mátra saddle – before turning left onto the main road, you can stop for a few minutes and admire the presented view. For a short few hundred meters, we have to ride on the main road, then turn right at the first opportunity – this is one end of the well-known Görgőbikki road.

At the next junction, there is a developed rest area on the site of the former charcoal burner huts. The Slovak villages in the Mátra (Mátrakeresztes, Mátraszentimre, Mátraszentlászló, Mátraszentistván, and Szuhahuta) had most of their population living from glass blowing and forestry work over the past centuries (and partly still today). One characteristic occupation was charcoal burning, passed down from father to son. Even in the interwar period, 30-40 charcoal workers operated using the surrounding forests’ wood for charcoal production. Unfortunately, nowadays almost no traces of this remain in the forest, not even where visible signs existed ten years ago. You can find a charcoal burner’s hut in the garden of the Mátraszentimre village museum.

From the junction, turn left and enjoy a long descent until the point where we left the route towards Nagy-Halmaj meadow at the beginning. While coasting, the not-so-distant Kékestető unfolds before us, until we reach the Gyöngyös stream valley, from which we still face a few kilometers of climbing back to the Görgőbikki rest area on the familiar road.

Other options if you are not yet tired

If you feel this tour is not challenging enough, you can reach Fenyvespuszta via Mátraalmás, or from the Görgőbikki rest area head in the opposite direction to Recsk or Markaz (on forestry dozer roads). Those seeking a more serious challenge can try one of the four distances of the Mátra Mountain Bike Marathon – but this requires more experience and a bike suitable for terrain. Those who feel they've spent enough time in the saddle can head towards the foot of the Mátra, where many activities await the tired wanderer.

It is only about one and a half kilometers coasting on road 24 to the Oxygen Adrenalin Park. The adventure park offers bob track, giant swing, climbing wall, forest adventure park for both kids and adults. A bit further, Hungary's highest artificial lake, Sástó, is surrounded by the Frog Nature Trail or you can admire the landscape from the iconic yellow lookout tower, created from a non-operational drilling tower transported from Algyőr. In 2019, a chairlift connecting the two attractions will be put into operation, providing an extra experience.