A unique route: hike in the Szelce Valley

Itinerary

• In Jósvafő, we need to start forward on the S trail from the bus stop.
• At the edge of the village, we turn right onto the K signs.
• From the K sign, at the plateau clearing, we switch to the P sign to the left.
• We walk through the Szelce Valley all the way to Szelcepuszta.
• At Szelcepuszta, we turn right onto the tourist trail marked K.
• We continue to follow the Blue Trail even after the S sign turns left.
• Later, when the S sign arrives from the right at Szőlőhegy, we turn left on it.
• We walk back to Jósvafő on the S trail.

Detailed description of the route

Small gorge near Jósvafő

In Jósvafő, we leave the main street and follow a wide creek trickling under the barns, walking out from between the houses. Initially, the forest does not close in, as there is a small meadow occupied by a waterworks in front of the Kossuth Cave spring. Spring water bubbles up among the stones, next to a constructed, gated entrance leading towards the depths of the actively researched cave. It is named after one of Kossuth's regional visits; after heavy rains, water bursts out loudly from the retaining walls. Here, the K marked hiking trail enters the Tohonya Stream’s gorge, opened by an earth road and widened. Fortunately, its development has not entirely destroyed the valley; the creek tumbling over mossy cobbles paints a charming picture as it forges its way through the small but winding gorge.

Shortly after, we arrive at another clearing where we cut through it to the right and forward, then climb a steep path section up to the giant meadow of the Jósvafő Plateau. In minutes, the landscape changes dramatically as we reach a sunlit, nearly treeless field from the cool forest. The breathtaking view: the huge, wide plateau forms a basin framed on all sides by steep, forested mountains, making us feel like we are in a spacious cauldron where human traces are barely noticeable. The varied surface is bumpy with dolines of various sizes, sometimes merged. The area was formerly forested; after logging, mowing and grazing prevented the spread of woody vegetation, and today the sightlines for hikers are filled with wind-rippled grass.

On the Jósvafő Plateau

We circle the corral of the Hucul horsestock’s heather-bog areas, where horses can roam a large area. This stocky horse breed was once called the "Carpathian pony" since its strong muscles and small size enabled its use during timber harvesting in difficult-to-access forests. Nearly extinct in Hungary, the national park has been breeding and caring for them since the 1980s. Beyond the backs, our eyes may catch the scenic karst shrub forest and rocky slope of Nagy-oldal. This mountain holds the highest point of the Aggtelek karst, Fertős Peak (604 m). Unfortunately, visiting is not permitted due to nature conservation reasons, and no hiking trails enter the mountains northeast and north-northeast of here. Undisturbed forests have maintained stable wolf and lynx populations for decades.

In the Szelce Valley

The K sign turns southeast, then at a fork turns right, but we must follow the P signs going left. The plateau and the road section ahead are characterized by merciless heat in summer; furthermore, due to its low-lying position, little refreshing breeze can be expected. We enter the Szelce Valley, which at its early stage is becoming overgrown with shrubs and starts with clumps of trees, winding between dolines. We do not find a creek along the long, open valley floor because it disappeared from the surface long ago: the former streams cut into the overlying rock layers drained underground through sinkholes in the limestone (remnants of which are today’s dolines). Erosion essentially “erased” the upper layers, but the formed valley remained, continued into the limestone. This is an example of valley formation characteristic of the Gömör-Torna Karst. The Szelce Valley lies on a structural line, so the old streams found paths through existing depressions. The red clayey soil is accompanied by an electric line along the wheel track, but this does not detract from the view! We walk in a beautifully grassy pasture, flanked by steep forested slopes on one side and gentle wooded slopes on the other. Due to sharp turns, we cannot see out of the valley, which has an atmosphere unique in the country. Moreover, tourist crowds avoid it; we will likely be alone in this somewhat barren yet friendly natural environment. To the left, on the strictly protected, fully closed-off from tourists Nagy-oldal karst-scrub slope, an old hunting trail winds high up; its wildest rocky cliff, the Oltár Stone, was once known for its majestic panorama. Behind it, on the forested plateau summit Fertős Peak, old hiking guidebooks describe a lookout that offered views of the entire karst area and the High Tatras in the background.

After a right-angle right turn, the terrain widens somewhat, and the hillside also lowers on the left. Approaching Szelcepuszta past wild fields, it is worth glancing back sometimes; Nagy-oldal rises like a wall behind our traveled route.

Szelcepuszta

Szelcepuszta is accessed by asphalt road; Hucul horses graze among the corrals, and shy fallow deer watch our steps nearby. The forestry site today hosts an excellent forest school, which is also a well-equipped tourist hostel. To the left among the trees and at the end of the concrete road stands the castle hotel: this was Miklós Horthy’s favorite hunting ground. He used the predecessor building (which burned down); the regent also introduced bears into the forest. The Bear Garden Spring, originating in the Ménes valley, still preserves its memory; above it, in the Sárog Garden, a fence was built (with the help of residents from Derenk and Szögliget) into which two pairs of reportedly Polish bears were introduced. Some recollections tell of formerly captive, human-acclimated individuals that could not be released freely; their feeding was managed by local hunters and foresters with produce, corn, fruit, and sometimes horse meat. By the 1940s, their descendants numbered more than twenty; many were released, and some were rarely seen in nearby villages (e.g., near beehives, orchards). Except for one, no record remains of conflicts ending in shooting (which were sometimes due to bees attacking after overturned hives). Then, in 1944, as the front approached, the animals kept in the garden were released. (Horthy himself once shot a bear near Szin.)

In his passion, however, the regent did not want to share with the nearby residents of Derenk, who sometimes supplemented their daily food with poaching, so he forcibly relocated the village inhabitants and razed their houses. Of course, he was not the first to discover Szelcepuszta; it was already an iron-working center in the Árpád era, as some local names recall the then "iron strikers": Verő-oldal, Verő-tető, Patkós-oldal, Patkós-valley. Today, it is a peaceful, idyllic accommodation place, worth spending a night here in the heart of the karst.

Back to Jósvafő

From Szelcepuszta, we return following the Blue Trail K signs. Like at the start of our route, we enter the forest again. We pass through saddles; here and there dolines deepen beside the forest road. We also touch small clearings, cross a pine grove, and eventually arrive at the open area of Szőlőhegy. The S sign leads left here; let's follow it! After a few steps, the landscape opens up; it is worth climbing up a little on the hillside. Although Jósvafő has no great tradition of viticulture, grapes were cultivated on this sun-exposed slope and to this day a few still work with vineyards. Instead of many vines, the numerous hilltops are noticeable: we overlook the Jósva valley and its opposite side covered with spruce forest; also visible is the ridge of the Szalonna karst. The opposite hillside is occupied by wide meadows with a somewhat northern Hungarian character. At the foot of the hill is the national park's emblem animal, a huge stone salamander winding. Our wide cart road descends along the hillside, and from a lower point of the overgrown slope, we look into the Jósvafő valley basin. We circle a small valley head, then arrive in the forest descending to the asphalt road. We walk on it into the village, where the S sign leads us back to the bus stop.