Barrier-free hiking in the magnificent Bükk Plateau

Itinerary:

Follow the blue bicycle sign all the way.

• Start from Olasz-kapu, then soon take a small detour at Fekete-sárna on the K+ sign.
• At Zsidó-rét we first meet the National Blue Trail K sign, here also take a small to-and-fro detour to the meadow on the K sign.
• After that, the K sign deviates twice more from the bicycle route; when it second diverges from our paved road, take another small detour on the K sign, then turn back.
• We return to Olasz-kapu on the same road as we came.

Detailed description:

The starting point of our hike is specifically accessible only by car, on a toll road. Since no other pedestrian access is possible in our case, the car remains the option, but the small financial sacrifice is worth making because the experience is guaranteed regardless of weather. The long winding serpentine leading to Olaszkapu is a delightfully beautiful mountain road, spiced with a kaleidoscope of splendid panoramas. Perhaps this is one of the most beautiful and in autumn the most colorful car road sections in our country, providing a splendid introduction to our hike. At the end of the road, between steel-gray posts of beech forest, we arrive at the plateau.

From here, a sign indicates the road closed to public traffic, and a spacious parking lot marks our pedestrian starting point. Because of the extremely demanding forest terrain conditions, we talk about a round trip route, but in our case repetition only reinforces our pleasant impressions. We set out on the gently uphill, almost flat plateau. In a short rocky corridor, a memorial plaque marks the history of one of the northern gates of the Bükk Plateau: during World War I, 18 Italian prisoner-of-war soldiers were sent to the landowner of the area, Count Pallavicini, who had Italian ancestors. Led by Gáspár Thurzó in 1918, they cut through this rock that stood in the way of the building timber railway track. Hence the name: Olaszkapu (Italian Gate).

Throughout the route, a few slightly winding, steeper road sections and straighter, flat “rest areas” alternate on the well-walked old bitumen strip. Both sides of the road are variably forested, groves and small to medium-sized clearings decorate it, but typically the large-distance, curved relief dominates the landscape.

Since on the first section of the hike we descend continuously, the slope beneficially anticipates the view we approach. Three smaller detours are recommended from the main ridge road to enjoy the completely natural forest atmosphere: the first one is found a few hundred meters to the left from the Olaszkapu memorial site; according to our own discretion, we can venture a few hundred meters into the forest (if terrain conditions allowed a circular route, we would return here, but unfortunately, this branch is not barrier-free at all).

Returning to the bitumen ridge road, we slowly approach the main attraction of our hike, the Zsidó meadow, which begins to unfold its distant views on the right side in the direction of travel. The huge hayfield spreading south of us is the most beautiful and typical meadow of the Bükk Plateau, enchanting everyone with its atmosphere, regardless of the season.

Its name comes from former firewood distributions, where locals made deals with timber merchants and delivered firewood to their homes. In addition to special karst phenomena (töbör chains), its unique microclimate hosts numerous rare plants, thus it is a strictly protected area, where it is forbidden to deviate from the designated tourist trail. Turning right from our “main road” we get a little taste of the meadow’s unique atmosphere, and it is also worth resting and observing the landscape here.

Continuing on increasingly dense forest, we approach the farthest point of our hike, the valley section. Along the way, a developed resting place can be found only at about two-thirds of the distance, after Zsidó meadow, a few turns later - here stands a tent roof shelter with tables.

At the endpoint of our route, according to individual capabilities, one can leave the asphalt road and venture onto the spacious limestone-gravel forest road, surrounded by peaceful dense forest. This is the farthest point and also the downhill section of our hike. From here we climb back in this delightfully beautiful landscape, watching the bitumen's cracking (and our helper’s pulse too). Hikers in silence may even spot some specimens from the rich wildlife (roe deer, wild boars, foxes, birds of prey). Breathing deeply the clean air, winding for a long time and enjoying the beauty of nature, we return to the Olasz-kapu parking lot.