“Viewing Stones” circular route on the edge of the Bükk Plateau

Itinerary:

• We start from the parking lot next to Bánya-hegy or from Répáshuta on the Z◼ trail.
• Turn right on the Z trail and walk a few hundred meters to the edge of the Bükk Plateau.
• From the Kis-kőhát saddle, we continue on the Z▲ trail, passing Hárnokő and reaching the edge of the Keskeny-rét meadow.
• We turn left on the K trail, from which we branch off on a short section on the K▲ trail to the Tar-kő viewpoint.
• At the western foot of Tar-kő, we can make a detour on the right on the Z trail to the Primeval Forest.
• In the other direction on the Z trail, we descend under Tar-kő through the Toldi-gate to a dozer road.
• On the dozer road, we turn left on the K+ trail towards Lök valley.
• On the K● trail to Hárs-kút, then climb back on the Z● trail from the hollow to Juhász-kút saddle.
• On the flat area below the plateau break, we traverse sideways back to the Bánya-hegy junction on the Z trail.
• We join the already known Z◼ trail, which leads back to the parking lot or to Répáshuta.

Detailed about the route:

In the forests above Répáshuta

We start from the parking lot at the Bánya-hegy junction and head to the Bükk Plateau on the forestry asphalt road leading to Nagymező, following the Z◼ trail. The road crossing the Bükk between Eger and Miskolc was carved into the hillside in the 1930s. Before that, Répáshuta was accessible via the Hór valley road through Cserépfalu or Hollóstető. The country road running under the rocks with countless bends is popular among motorsport enthusiasts, and before the national park was established, the Nagymező road was also a favorite place for car outings and picnics. Fortunately, the Nagymező road has since been closed to public traffic, so only cyclists fill the asphalt strip crossing the plateau in good weather.

We follow this route too, but the hiking mark shortcuts the bends of the gently serpentine road, so we reach the plateau edge relatively quickly, within a bit more than a kilometer. For this, in the turnaround bend behind Bánya-hegy, we join the Török road, follow the Z sign to the right and uphill to the parking next to the road. Here, at the beginning of the plateau meadows and hayfields, we immediately turn up the hillside along the Z▲ trail leading to the "stones". The path ascends evenly on the rocky south side of Kis-Kőhát, although due to clearings, the line twists here and there, demanding attention on the winding path between old beeches and youthful forests.

On the grassy plateau of Hárnokő, at the southern edge of the plateau meadows

After two kilometers, we reach a gentle valley where the path diverges left towards the clearing of Hárnokő. Although we continue for some time along the meadow and the forest edge, the vast openness of Hárnokő and the meadow disappearing into the rock range to the south are palpable. When the path exits the grove, the rocky strip bordering the meadow becomes visible, and the Z▲ sign guides us to its pointed summit, the best viewpoint.

The panorama opening from Hárnokő is uniquely atmospheric; a defining feature is the rounded block of Tar-kő, the highest among the southern “stones,” standing guard above the area with cliffs. Before it, ridges line up in orderly rows from the western ends up to Répáshuta. Below, the sharply incised Pazsag valley extends diagonally to the largest valley of Bükk, the Hór valley splitting the Southern Bükk, and beyond, over the rounded wooded hills of the southeastern part of the mountain range, the view fades into the endless Great Plain.

From the rocky rim northwards, the path leads along the western edge of the drop-off to a grove meadow ending in a rocky hillside. After a short descent, we again reach the southern edge of the valley-pocked plateau meadows, where the path winds seeking the most level trail line. At the edge of Keskeny-rét, we join the National Blue Trail on the K trail, which we follow westward for nearly two kilometers.

On the rocky ridge of Tar-kő

After a brief greeting from the plateau meadows, we again sink into terrace shaping on the forest management road winding on the hillside. After passing a small rocky saddle, we turn onto the mass of Tar-kő and Büszkés-hegy. This strictly protected area is home to old beech forests. In the steep, hard-to-access slopes, a significant and continuous stand of old forests has survived, spared from 20th-century planned motorized logging. However, in one strip, this contiguous beech forest was disrupted, through which we exactly overlook our previous viewpoint, Hárnokő. The partly opened forest was cut at the end of the 2010s, causing great outrage among tourists and conservationists. Fortunately, the saddle on the far side of the mountain is truly untouched for centuries and is called the “Primeval Forest” nature reserve. The forest, untouched since the 19th century, once owned by Count Pallavicini, was protected from logging due to its status and the trees’ high average age, where today original primeval forest plant communities can be studied.

Climbing in the rocky side, we reach the summit of Tar-kő. From the peak crowned by beech forest, a short detour on the K▲ trail leads out to the viewpoint at the mountain’s southern escarpment. This rock offers the most complete panorama of the Southern Bükk from the highest natural lookout point in the mountain range. Like a ship’s prow, Tar-kő’s rocky southern peak cuts through the green waves of Bükk forests, from where we overlook nearly all southern ridges and valleys. Deep below in the distance, the Felsőtárkány basin is visible, under it Eger city spreading at the foot of the Eged hill. The western end of Bükk runs through Sirok into the ridge ending at Mátra Kékes. Much earlier, in the Middle Ages, the whole continuous forested hilly region was called Mátraerdő, the names Bükk and the hills only entered popular use later. Beyond the mountains’ feet, the view extends far into the flat Great Plain. In summer, the air is usually too humid to discern any details from the plain; in winter, the Great Plain is often covered by a cloud and fog blanket. Then the most spectacular is to watch from above the sunny “stones” the endlessly rippling waves of the sunbathing fog, barely noticing its movement.

Returning to the K trail, we continue west along the increasingly steeply descending hillside, gaining over 100 meters of elevation in one go. At the western foot of the mountain, we reach the turnoff of the Z trail leading to the Primeval Forest on the combined K and Z trail. It is worth taking this short detour of only a few hundred meters. Although the forest reserve itself is fenced off, from the information sign we can see the mixed-aged forest. Among many fallen, standing dead, and still weather-defying ancient trees, and in the regenerating natural forest community with shrubs, we can imagine how the Bükk forests looked before human intervention. The further route leads away from the junction in the opposite direction on the Z trail along the “King’s road.”

Descending under the “stones”, back on the Török road

Although folk tradition says that King Béla IV fled that way after losing the Battle of Mohi, it is quite unlikely and would imply intimate local knowledge. The Z trail steeply traverses the rocky hillside, turning back under the Tar-kő massif. We cross the Toldi-gate, an extension of the limestone ridge of Tar-kő fallen westwards, though here with much gentler shapes and sizes. After the rock gate, we reach the Toldi-bikk saddle, where we join the forestry road traversing under the “stones.” Up to here, we have descended over 200 meters in just 1.5 kilometers continuously—now we traverse sideways along a comfortable contour path. About one hundred meters below the junction is the Toldi hut, a shelter once used by hunters of the past and open to tourists, which can offer protection in harsh weather deep within the mountains.

Continuing on the dozer road level, we now follow the K+ trail (the Z signs soon turn south towards Felsőtárkány). We cover a bit more than a kilometer amid the rhythmic alternation of exposed beech and oak forests. In the Malom-hegy saddle, directly under the rock arch of Tar-kő, we turn off the dozer road and reach the upper end of Lök valley by a steep contour path. Turning onto the K● trail, we can see an interesting phenomenon: the stream born at the marshy outlet of Hárs-kút soon disappears underground. Due to the steepness and rocky nature of the valley, the karst water travels kilometers underground here and only reappears a few hundred meters in elevation and kilometers downstream of the mountain.

From here, a short but steep climb follows to Juhász-kút saddle on the Z● trail, with which we reach the ridge-leading “Török road.” This route indeed dates back to Turkish times: the Bükk area marked the northern border region of the Ottoman Empire. On the ridge along the Z trail, a final short climb brings us to the flat area between Hárnokő and Bánya-hegy, bordered by steep cliffs. This slope rest area was formed by strongly folded wave layers during its formation, creating a natural pass between the steep head of Pazsag valley and the Bükk Plateau. The gentle area is utilized by the road, guiding us back to the Bánya-bükk road. The significance of the route is highlighted by the county border also passing here. On this last section, we hike in atmospheric old forests, protected from weather extremes by the terrain and forest. Arriving at the junction mentioned at the beginning of the hike, we descend from Bánya-hegy corner along the already covered path on the Z ◼ trail back to our starting point.