Adventure hunting in the center of the Tokaj Mountains, or a scenic hike in the hut mountains

Itinerary:

• From Középhuta follow the S trail to the Mlaka meadow.
• From the southern end of the meadow, take a short detour on the K▲ trail to the Sólyom peak.
• From the Mlaka meadow, follow the K trail (to the left) to the István-kút hunting lodge.
• Behind the hunting lodge, turn right for a detour to the István-kút on the K● trail, which reconnects to the Blue Trail at the key house.
• From the key house, follow the K trail to a meadow fork.
• Turning right, the K▲ trail leads to the Nagy-Péter-mennykő, then back the same way.
• Return on the K trail to the Mlaka meadow, then follow it further to the Szpalanyica valley fork.
• Turn right onto the K◼ trail into the Szpalanyica valley.
• On the Z↺ trail through the Kotliszka meadow saddle, passing the former Waldbott game reserve, we descend to Újhuta.
• On the paved road, turn right and follow the Z cyclist signs back to Középhuta.

Detailed description of the route:

Above the hut villages

Starting from the heart of the mountain range, from the center of the hut villages, Középhuta, we head west on the S trail. The characteristic single-street settlement embedded in a valley shows a surprising similarity to the Upper Hungarian and Carpathian villages. This resemblance is understandable, as the settlers were Slavs from the Carpathians and Upper Hungary who founded the village in an environment similar to their former home. At the end of the 17th century, Prince Francis II Rákóczi settled them in the mountain range's center to utilize the then unexploited forests and to initiate glass production. As the forests became depleted, the smelting site was moved from the original Óhuta center to Újhuta and then to Középhuta, leading to the formation of several scattered settlements in the valley known today as Háromhuta.

Leaving the houses tightly clustered at the valley floor, a small bridge arches over the Tolcsva stream opposite the valley’s tension. We cross the stream under the shade of alder trees and begin a slow ascent into the hut mountains in the adjacent side valley. After a few hundred meters, we turn off the side valley onto a dozer road ascending the slope of Nagy-Királyos. We rise on a gradually transforming path bordered by old valley floor trees and young forest clearings. Crossing a forestry track and cutting its curve, we reach the Kis-Pockála clearing. At the edge of this increasingly shrinking grassy area, we join the upper branch of the forestry road, which traverses the steep and increasingly rocky western slope of Soltész Hill to the Mlaka meadow.

The Mlaka meadow is a local low point on a ridge that acts as a primary watershed between the valleys of Tolcsva and Kemence streams. The saddle’s birch grove clearing is a local feature common in the higher regions of the Tokaj Mountains. The presence of birch is influenced by the Northeastern Carpathians, while the meadow, used for mowing, was for a long time a fundamental pillar of local agriculture, taking advantage of the volcanic mountains’ few flat areas.

At the meadow’s edge, a path immediately branches left into a beech forest, where the K▲ trail leads up the rocky slope of Sólyom peak. The andesite ridge forming the summit was worn down by frost during ice ages, so the slope is dotted with many fallen towers and mossy andesite boulders. We navigate among gray beech trunks and arrive at the clearing on the far side beneath a still-standing tower. The view is breathtaking: after the dense forest, the landscape suddenly opens, and we overlook the valley of Tolcsva stream all the way to the floodplains of the Bodrog River. The mountain group between Tolcsva and Óhuta is closed westward by the Regéc Castle, proudly sitting on a rocky ridge. Below us, a craggy rock formation plunges dizzyingly into the depths. On clear days, we can see acrobatic rock climbers balancing on sometimes overhanging gray andesite walls.

We descend back to the Mlaka meadow on the K▲ trail, and crossing to the opposite rest area, we join the K trail of the National Blue Trail on the watershed forming the mountain range’s 'main ridge'. From here we take a longer detour westward, touching the István-kút and the Nagy-Péter-mennykő, from where we return to the same place and continue eastward.

Detour to István-kút and the Nagy-Péter-mennykő viewpoint on the ''main ridge'' of the Tokaj Mountains

The detour is about seven kilometers roundtrip but worth the view and atmosphere. Most of the way is on comfortable forestry roads winding among the ridges. We take the northwest (left) branch of the K trail at the Mlaka meadow, following a wide dozer road shaded by magnificent beeches leading to István-kút. After less than a kilometer, we arrive at a saddle, and descending to the other side, we enter Istvánkút’s wide basin surrounded by a fairytale-like green birch grove. The mountain idyll is completed by a log cabin in the middle of the grove clearing, beside which a small pond collects water from a nearby spring. The shaded grove served the former owners of the stone house on the far side, as the local forester mowed hay for his animals here. They stopped mowing in the 1970s, and the forest started to reclaim its place. However, to preserve protected plants and animals living in the clearings, shrubs were eradicated, and the area is mowed yearly.

Behind the log cabin, the K● marked path branches off into the shade of old beeches to the István-kút. After about a hundred meters, we reach a concrete spring enclosure, from which fresh fracture water gushes abundantly. The protective forest around the spring consists of impressive beech old-timers; some have fallen, but they still emit a healthy primeval forest atmosphere around István-kút. Crossing the ravine carved by the spring-born creek, we reach the former forester's house, now functioning as a key house, on the other side of the beech forest along the other branch of the K● trail. Here, we reconnect with the K trail, which climbs westward out of the valley head.

At the upper end of the birch and hornbeam forest, the K trail leisurely winds along the forestry road among waves of valleys and ridges. We bypass the rocky slope of Bagoly peak in a large curve, initially through oak woods, then through planted pine stands, until finally reaching the clearing above Pin-kút, where the K▲ trail turns right to Nagy-Péter-mennykő.

Crossing the meadow, we climb the rocky ridge and enter a magnificent beech forest that becomes rockier and more stony as we approach the summit. Almost at the highest point, the ridge suddenly breaks off, and below us, the half-sided summit plunges a few jumps into the depths.

The highlight of our hike in terms of elevation and view is the Nagy-Péter-mennykő, one of the highest natural viewpoints in the area, reaching over 700 meters. To the north, deep beneath us, the valley system of Kemence stream dissects the landscape into details. Important features include the former volcanic center of the opposite Csattantyú mountain and the broad ridge of Nagy-Milic behind it.

Following the route taken, on the K▲ and K trails, we return to the Mlaka meadow, from where we continue eastward along the K trail on the forestry road. After a kilometer, we reach the source area of the Tolcsva stream at Szpalanyica valley, where we switch to the K◼ trail leading toward Újhuta on the dozer road.

In the Waldbott estate game reserve

In the wide basin of the Szpalanyica valley, we enter increasingly dense beech forests and follow the gently winding Tolcsva stream in the valley's slow curve. Be attentive: about two kilometers after the path crosses the still young creek, a steep road climbs on the opposite slope in a ditch. Taking this path on the Z↺ trail, we climb and overcome the hundred-meter elevation to the saddle.

At Kotliszka meadow, we arrive at the saddle, where two monumental sequoia trees stand in the forest. Along the edge of the clearing and the crossing path, a horse chestnut row extends, followed by redwoods further along the road. After the meadow, we gently descend through old mixed spruce, Douglas fir, and poplar plantations. This special forest community was planted in the early 20th century by the Waldbott family of German origin from Tolcsva's center. Here they had their game reserve, and at Újhuta's lower end, their hunting castle. The northern atmosphere also surrounds us under Hársas peak, which had a wooden lookout until the mid-20th century.

Leaving the game reserve pine woods, we now bypass the rocky ridge in the oak forest and descend on the far side toward Újhuta. At the junction of forestry roads, we pass through a cozy clearing called Sop meadow and then enter a beech forest. From there, we descend with increasing steepness, and near the valley floor, another clearing decorated with gravestones appears over the houses – this is the resting place of the village's deceased. Újhuta’s cemetery slopes all the way to the Tolcsva stream with a steepness unique in our country. Beyond the cemetery’s gate and crossing Tolcsva, we return to Újhuta’s center, at the bell tower and bus turnaround. Following the watercourse, we return on the asphalt road to Középhuta, linking the Z cyclist signs, thus closing our circular route.