An adventurous path to the Sas-bérc lookout

Itinerary

The Cserhát green trails Z markings are sometimes present, sometimes not, so downloading the route before starting and using the Természetjáró app is essential for orientation.

• In Herencsény, we start following the Cserhát green trails Z markings on Kossuth Street (which are sometimes present, sometimes not).
• At the first corner, we turn left onto Béke Street, and where they are painted, we follow the Cserhát green trails green Z markings.
• We continue straight through a gate, although the markings are no longer present.
• We cut through a fenced area, after the exit, we go straight, then turn left at a fork in the road.
• We turn right onto a road coming in perpendicularly, continuing our path at the edge of a clearing.
• We cross a stream, pass through another gate, then after a few steps turn left and exit through another gate.
• At a Y-junction, we turn right and proceed along this cart track for about 2 kilometers.
• The cart track turns right at one point; keeping direction, we continue on a small path.
• We come out onto a cart track again and follow it all the way to the Sas-bérc lookout.
• From the lookout, we turn back, at the saddle turn left onto the paved road.
• After about 2 km we reach a barrier and a parking lot; here we turn right and continue on the cart track in the forest.
• At two forks, we turn right, then left; after an S-curve, we come out onto a meadow. Here we turn left and follow the cart track to Terény-Bányatelep.
• Behind the house, we turn right and proceed on the farm boundary road. The path leads to a T-junction where we turn right.
• We pass through another gate, then continue left along the fence.
• Keeping direction, we first exit and then re-enter the fenced area. At its corner, at another T-junction, we turn right.
• We go through an internal fence, turn left, until finally we exit the corral for good. Keeping direction, we continue and our path leads us back onto the Z marking — which we have been on before. Following this, we return to Herencsény.

Detailed description of the route

A revived village with prime ministerial shelter

Our hike starts in Herencsény, a settlement of less than 600 people located along the paved road connecting Balassagyarmat and Pásztó. Due to its geographical location and significance, it is difficult to reach by public transport and easier by car.

We head south on Kossuth Street, then at the first junction turn left onto Béke Street, crossing the bridge over the Fekete-víz stream. The stream originates south of Herencsény near the Arethusa spring (which we will visit later) and reaches the Ipoly before Balassagyarmat. On its bank stands the 18th-century statue of Saint John of Nepomuk.

We leave an estate whose fence bears a plaque framed by ivy, informing us that István Bethlen, retired prime minister, took refuge here between June and October 1944—while hiding from the occupying German troops since March—in the Bolza family manor house.

As we proceed south, the village cemetery appears on the right. It is a rare sight: wide, long, with graves spaced and wildflowers growing among them. It’s worth walking in, looking around, and taking a detour along the chestnut tree-lined alley to the Saint Michael church rising in the cemetery's center. This is the only such building in Herencsény and interestingly not located in the center but at the village’s edge. The reason lies in Herencsény’s structural changes: like many villages, it was destroyed and rebuilt — its current form resulted from merging several village parts. The recently renovated sanctuary’s old window recesses indicate it once was a rotunda, later extended westward. Its tower painted yellow was constructed then as well.

Hunting for markers among pastures

We return to Béke Street and continue south. At the village’s boundary, we first spot the Cserhát green trails Z marking on a utility pole — we estimate most of our hike will be without it. A rhythmic clicking strikes our ears: the electric fence protecting the pasture has been extended across the land. At a fenced cross known as the "cross of the Vörösi farmers", we turn left. Forest flanks us on the right, and on the left, as we depart the inhabited areas, plowed fields turn into meadows blossoming with flowers. Although markings are sparse, the junctions clearly indicate direction. Suddenly a gate that can be unlatched blocks our way, and we pass through it. Depending on the season, cows may graze in the fenced area once called Liszkópuszta. We walk either among the animals on the cart track or turn left onto a path along the Fekete-víz stream to cover just over a kilometer to the exit.

We exit the corral; from here no markings remain, so we rely on GPS and the map. We go straight, then diagonally left along fence posts into the trees and start ascending. After about 500 meters, we turn right onto a perpendicularly approaching path, then left along the field edge. Soon a strange structure appears—perhaps the jump of an abandoned downhill track. We follow the tree line, curving right, cross a stream, enter another gate, then after a few steps turn left and leave the fenced area via another exit.

After an overgrown, hard-to-walk section, turning right at a fork, we reach the hidden, barely dripping Arethusa spring in the valley head. Scouts camping nearby named it after a figure in Greek mythology. Its former popularity is shown by nearby benches — their moss-covered state indicates faded familiarity.

After a right and left turn, we enter a grove of huge oaks. Our cart track turns right, but we keep direction and leave it, our path continuing through young hornbeam trees. Soon we reach a wider road; a comfortable section follows: moderate ascent accompanied first by a fence on the right, then on the left. Suddenly cold air hits us: it comes from the valley head we just circled; cool-loving beeches appear in it. Soon we reach the Sas-bérc saddle and forestry road connecting Terény, Szanda, Bokor and Buják across the ridge. A sign here already indicates proximity to the Sas-bérc lookout.

Distinguished tower, royal panorama

We cross the asphalt strip and glimpse a small pond on the right. (If we're lucky, we might see a frog.) On a steepening ascent, we reach Sas-bérc and the lookout standing on it. Next to the tower is a rain shelter, benches and a fireplace inviting a longer rest; firewood lies under the vaulted base of the lookout. Besides the tourist infrastructure, the wonderful panorama from the building captivates: looking from left to right on the eastern terrace, we see the Karancs–Medves region block, the Tepke ridge, and behind it the Western Mátra. Ágasvár, Galya-tető, Kékes, and Nagy-Hársas range in a row. To the west, Szanda castle and its twin-mound, the quarry at Bercel, and farther the Naszály and the High Börzsöny massifs come into view. Although the view is stunning, caution is advised against wasps: on the lookout’s west side, flowers on ivy climbing the tower are densely visited by them in early autumn.

Though we turn back to Herencsény, it is worth making a short detour before that on a beautiful grassy path starting from the lookout to the Eucharistic memorial cross. The Budapest Forestry Plc. erected it in memory of the 2021 World Congress held in Budapest.

Roller coaster in the embrace of hills

The Cserhát green trails Z marking appears again; following it, we turn left onto the paved road and start a roughly 2 km descent. After a hairpin bend, the forest opens, we pass an old, rusty barrier, then soon arrive at a new one. This parking is made for visitors to the lookout, but when the barrier is closed — indicating the forestry private road's temporary opening — we can drive all the way to the saddle.

We leave the marking again and turn right from the parking onto the cart track. At two successive forks, first choose the right, then the left path! We join an incoming path, bypass a valley head, then after a short winding reach a clearing where we turn left. Neatly planted chestnut trees recall the former farming form; one bears an old glued marking.

The path leads through vast, beautiful meadows and among donkey-thorn bushes waist-high to a house marked as Bányatelep on maps. Coal mining operated here in the Terény-Kiskérpuszta mine until the 1950s, with raw materials transported by narrow-gauge railway to nearby Mohora railway station. The house appears only temporarily inhabited and probably serves as the center of a nearby farm, with sheep bleating in its garden.

Behind the house, we turn right and notice some farm buildings and vehicles; animals graze peacefully. We walk along the farm’s boundary, going around it on the right. The path narrows, at one point no wider than a loess-cut gully, then more and more bramble and rose-hip branches bend onto the path, making progress difficult. Finally, we exit the thicket, turn right at a crossroads, then go through another gate and — unbelievably — this is the same pasture we crossed earlier on our way here. We turn left and continue the hike along the fence. Due to grazing and trampling, there are almost no trees or bushes; the view towards the mountain range ahead is beautiful.

The edge of the fenced area bulges at one point; keeping direction, we take a small roller-coaster-like path to another gate. Passing through it, we approach Herencsény along the outer side of the fence. On the right stand the remains of a collapsed watchtower; on the road coming from the left, the Z markings reappear. We immediately pass through another gate then turn right at the opposite corner. The trail markings end here; we cross the meadow, a fence blocks our way inside, but luckily — as we’ve gotten used to — it has a gate. Immediately after, we turn left and reach the pen boundary, which we cross for the last time. Keeping direction, we go through young planted acacia woods, then turn left after a few hundred meters. Soon we reconnect with our earlier route and thus return to Herencsény over familiar terrain.