Above Hollóstető, in the Sugaró game reserve

Itinerary

• We start from Hollóstető on the S trail, then immediately switch to the K◼ trail to head up to the plateau.
• Upon reaching the concrete road, we turn left onto the K trail, which we follow to Jávorkút.
• From Jávorkút, we return along the K trail.
• From Kecskeláb meadow, we continue right on the S+ trail.
• At Szarvas-kút, we turn left onto the S trail and return to Hollóstető this way.

Detailed description of the route

On the slope of Nagy-dél

Hollóstető lies at the junction of the road crossing Bükk at the Bükkszentkereszt turn-off and was once known for its tourist house (the current inn building is its continuation). Below among the trees there is a campsite - but the golf courses serving Lillafüred guests in the 1930s or the bobsled run heading into the Szinva valley no longer exist. At the meeting point of the plateau and the Southern Bükk, the formerly more frequently used Hór valley road merges with the Eger-Miskolc highway and its Bükkszentkereszt branch - which was responsible for its former traffic and popularity. (During the first decade of socialism, weekend buses also ran in the Hór valley.) Let's head towards the forest from the stop on the S trail, aiming for the Bükk plateau just under 200 meters above us! The K◼ trail pierces the dense forest at a barely noticeable place on the northern side of the paved road (behind the inn) and soon changes from a narrow path to a wide wheel track.

On the slope of Nagy-dél (named after the slope's orientation), we climb mainly through beech forest, sometimes passing pine patches. The ascent is gradual, evenly distributing the effort, and some level sections provide relief. Branches torn off by the wind and twisted trunks enrich the soil, nourished by slowly decomposing material. With a right turn, we surge onto the plateau (crossing a barely noticeable ditch) and pass through thinned forest until the path joins the paved strip of Lusta valley amid wind-beech forest. The Bükk plateau is much more varied below ground here than on the surface - one witness of the karst cave system is the Fear Cave hidden under the trees. (Little is known about the origin of its name, likely referring to dangers lurking for explorers.)

Among sinkholes and meadows

Turning left onto the concrete, we already follow the K trail and, after a few bends, reach a small meadow. Through tall undergrowth, a narrow path calls to the right - at its end, in the shade of trees, a cross and green helmet mark a World War military grave site. The boring concrete section soon rewards our efforts as the forest opens, and we arrive at the end of Menyecske sinkhole. On the left, at the border of a logged pine patch and meadow, at the side of the sinkhole, we can visit the Forester Memorial, commemorating those who died in forestry work. Although we tread the highland's ridge, we wander in a long valley embraced by gently rising low peaks. Its formation is characteristic of the highest part of Bükk: in the geological past, the plateau was covered with debris and tuff rock fallen during volcanic activity. Sawing through this, the streams reached the underlying limestone surface, and their water seeped deep into the karst interior. These formed sinkholes were mostly short-lived, as the streams cut further back through the tuff layer, swallowing themselves deeper at new points. Erosion long ago removed the volcanic cover; the swirling river clogged its "drainage," but the line of sinkholes remains visible on the karst surface. We now hike in this valley marked by their depressions (so-called sinkhole chain valley), where large oval meadows reveal "pits" created by humans long ago.

After logging, pines were planted in the expanding, merging patches of pastures and meadows. Elements of this landscape management come together in the scene before us: we cross a narrow meadow bordered by pines and deciduous trees, whose surface is marked by giant sinkholes. (Their bottoms almost trap the heavy, cold air: around them, temperatures near 0 degrees Celsius can occur even on summer nights.) In spring, flower splendor colors the species-rich grasslands; small rocky outcrops emerge from the earth at places, while smooth concrete makes walking comfortable.

Jávorkút's pine forests

One meadow follows another; traces of mowing are sometimes visible, now mainly done for nature conservation by the national park staff to halt reforestation and preserve these fragile habitats. At the western end of Hosszú-bérc, we reach a clearing and a junction where the K trail turns right - let's follow it into the shade of beeches! After a short while, we are back on asphalt, but at a forester's house, the landscape opens, and tall pines enclose a spacious clearing with benches: the settlement of Jávorkút. The house with a porch operates as a restaurant, which comes in handy at the halfway point of our hike. Built in 1920 by Count István Bethlen (who became prime minister a year later) as a hunting lodge, it has since been expanded with several buildings. Being a guesthouse, it offers accommodation, so we can extend our stay in Bükk. At the edge of the clearing springs the drinkable Jávorkút, and huge pines cast shade over the houses. East of the guesthouse thrive large pine forests planted in the late 19th century, including the "Swedish pine forest," whose seeds were imported from the namesake country, and to the west the first planted "ancient pine forest" rustles.

Land of the game

It's time to head down from the Bükk plateau - first retracing about one and a half kilometers on the previously traveled path (K trail). We reach the end of Kecskeláb meadow, the familiar junction, and this time follow the S+ trail. A pleasant wheel track undulates through sinkholes lined with lush grass; the meadow narrows until the forest completely swallows the path. (Looking back from the end, the regular bowl-shaped sinkholes outline clearly.) The view changes dramatically again, and although it is a matter of taste whether we like the intensely passable sections ahead, one thing is certain: we truly enter the realm of nature here. Vegetation covers the path in many places, the forest is an impenetrable maze all around, rotten deadwood lies everywhere, and one meter or less of view is possible at a time over the landscape. The wild terrain, spared the marks of recent forestry management, is also used by wolves returned to the mountains (hikers need not fear them as they detect humans from afar and avoid them). Only the slowly reforested clearing of Sugaró allows observation - the shallow soil and steep-walled sinkholes are difficult for woody plants to colonize. The sweet gale pines cast beautiful shadows over the meadow, its green grass divided into several sections by small groves, with some dead, dried specimens among the vigorous pines. (Two explanations exist for the melodious name of the clearing Sugaró: it may derive from the Hungarian verb 'zsugorodik' meaning shrinking, capturing the natural phenomenon of tree expansion and the "shrinkage" of Sugaró. The other multifaceted approach relates the adjective 'sokorú' to a flat hilltop, hollow, or even winding, reflecting the name’s reference to the dense alternation of hills and valleys, and labyrinthine terrain.)

In the shadow of the plateau

Crossing the romantically named Sugaró, the landscape changes again: at first young, then older beech forests cover the slope. We leave a game feeder behind, and signs of active forestry appear, with visibly used, cleared bulldozer roads. We slowly descend, passing through a sparse beech forest damaged by windstorms and spring snowfalls on the slope of Rejtek. Not far away stands a former research house (now accommodation) - biologist-ecologist Pál Jakucs designated Rejtek and its surroundings in the 1970s as a long-term research site to study forest ecosystem processes.

We reach the Eger-Miskolc highway, on the far side of which our hike continues. Through a small meadow we walk under the trees and turn left onto the S trail. The forest hides from our eyes the Szarvas-kúti sinkhole cavity - a rich collection of karst phenomena born from the contact of water and limestone developed here, at the junction of the plateau and the southeastern area of Bükk. Mine shafts and rock niches gape on the hillsides, and far below our feet, a branching cave system meanders. Due to a narrow slate layer, part of the karst water infiltrating higher up is forced to the surface, but the water brought to light by a series of springs is absorbed again slightly lower by the limestone like a sponge through its sinkholes. Unfortunately, we will see none of this on the remaining one and a half kilometers: the hiking path bypasses an electric line corridor and then the main road. This somewhat monotonous section soon ends when we return to Hollóstető.