Adventurous circular route at the foot of the Bükk Mountains

Itinerary:

• Starting from the clearing of the Berezdaljai cellar row, we begin along the S+ trail.
• After crossing the Mész creek, we continue right on the S path.
• We ascend on the forestry road, then turn right at a barrier.
• We cross the meadow heading south, then return again to the S trail, turning right.
• At the junction of the S trail and the educational trail, we choose the latter.
• At the now familiar intersection, we cross the creek and return to the village via the paved road on the left.

Detailed Description:

We start from the clearing of the Berezdaljai cellar row comprising three streets above one another, running parallel to the cellars. The neat facades carved into the hillside resemble tiny versions of similar functional peasant architectural complexes found in several places in our country. Passing along a few hundred meters of cellars, our route leads into a gravelly-clayey meadow path with a gentle slope along the Mész creek. To the right, hills rise, gently blending into rolling hills along our route. This easy, slightly winding terrain leads after 1-2 km to a wide pasture from the south, encircling the cone of the Kaptárkő beehive stone.

This area was not accidentally found and shaped as a sacred place by our ancestors with its spacious dimensions. The natural riolitic tuff formations that stand out from the environment, known as beehive stones, are typically cone-shaped; the origin, time, and purpose of their human-carved niches are shrouded in mystery. This strange ancient site might have been built for sacred purposes long ago, even before the Hungarian conquest, which with the settlement's emergence took on a new pragmatic function: people settled bees and bee colonies here. Today, this impressive landform and the traces of our predecessors’ hands once more attract visitors as an ancient memory.

Unfortunately, we cannot climb the very steep, rocky path with a wheelchair, but the ring of oak trees surrounding the wide pasture managed by traditional grazing before it already hints at the special beauty of our hike. At the intersection of the path connecting the creek and the beehive stone, there is a fire pit, an ideal place for outdoor cooking. Crossing this path brings us to a forest paved road, where turning right, we ascend sheltered for 2-3 km towards the oak region. On both sides are mixed forests, occasionally alder, ash, linden, hawthorn bushes, wild raspberries, blackberries, dogwood, and chokecherry patching the mostly turkey oak forest.

We stay slightly away from the creek valley along a road maintained by forestry and closed to public traffic. For the visual „reward”, it is worth climbing to the most beautiful part of our route, where a short branch with an open barrier leads us to an amazingly beautiful upland: we arrive at a well-maintained forested ridge from both forestry and visual points of view, where scattered ancient oaks accompany the grazing-maintained („organic mowing”) pasture. This dreamlike place once served as accommodation for herdsmen; it is worth spending time here.

After the long ascent, the road peaks, then after a few hundred meters, the clayey road gradually begins to descend (this area is typically traveled by tractors and off-road vehicles to the herding cottages in the valley, so the road has deep ruts and becomes slippery in rainy weather); it is advisable to walk on the grassy surface next to the road in such conditions.

Amazing huge oaks, and further away, silver-glittering beeches accompany us as we descend back to the valley on the clayey-limey-gravel road. This terrain is quite demanding; when descending with a wheelchair, we recommend moving backward, supported by a sturdy companion. This sporty sensation catches up with us in several places, but the landscape shining in all seasons richly compensates us.

Upon reaching the valley, we descend further along the edge of the oak forest, now turning back. We move on undulating terrain, approaching the creek valley, then after a short rocky and collapsed road surface, we arrive at the dense forest. This introduces a new aspect to our hike: we reach a charming gorge bordered by large rocks on both sides. To our right flows the creek’s wild bed, but we descend in a slightly sloping, sometimes rocky coolness where the backwalking maneuver comes into play once again.

This rocky corridor is already the path descending to the Kaptárkő, where you can discover the traces of human hands on the large mossy rocks. For example, the Outpost Niche is a little „cave” carved into tuff that can accommodate a few people. Soon the wilder descents disappear as the path bends into a grove-like, gravelly flat, and the Kaptárkő meadow appears on our left. At the now familiar intersection, at the meeting of the educational and S+ trails, we cross the Mész creek and suddenly turn left onto the asphalt road leading back to the village. We descend among peaceful, prosperous houses, then crossing a bridge (Hór creek) and a small bridge (Mész creek), we can glance back at the mountain ridges of this superb, meaningful route. We return to the square in front of the cellar row, and if we are lucky, we can knock on one of the cellars to taste the local wines.