Búzás Valley lake circuit

Itinerary

• From Recsk we start on the asphalt road leading to Mátraderecske, following the Z↺ marking, which we follow all the way to the junction after the Búzás Valley Lake.
• At the junction we turn left onto the Z mark, where we stay until the ridge junction.
• On the ridge we turn right onto the K+ marking, where we make a 5-10 minute detour to a viewpoint, then return.
• Turning left, we head back along the Z marking, which we follow to the fishing buffet on the far side of the lake.
• At the buffet, we turn left onto the Z↺ marking, which leads to Recsk and the main road.
• On the main road, we turn right following the K+ marking all the way back to the starting point.

Detailed route description

At the border of Recsk, on the spotted hills grazed by herds

From Recsk, joining the Z↺ marking, we set off on Hunyadi János Street towards the center of the hilly area opposite the Mátra. Recsk was famous for one of the largest domestic ore mines, the copper deposit hidden in Lahóca Hill containing gold and silver, heavily exploited in the 19th and 20th centuries, laying the foundation for the village's growth. In the 1970s, production was reduced due to the depletion of surface deposits, with mine workers forced into the steelworks in Diósgyőr. Later, significant rich copper deposits were discovered at about one kilometer depth, but despite this, the mine tunnels were flooded and finally closed by the end of the 1990s. The political forced labor camp near the village also operated in the northern foothills of the Mátra in the 1950s. Only quarrying was done in the Csákány-kő mine, linked to the notorious brutality of the state security forces and the attempted cover-up political internment.

Turning before the St. Stephen King Church, our path becomes steeper, then climbing beside the dilapidated Barkóczy Castle towards the village boundary. The castle, built by Baron Barkóczy who owned the area at the end of the 19th century, has become private property and is not open to visitors. The ÁVH had its seat in the building in the early 1950s; more about the deeds committed on site can be learned at the exhibit of the forced labor camp memorial in the mountains opposite (worth visiting before or after the route).

Leaving the village, we turn onto an asphalt road into the Kürti Creek valley, which leads between the hills north of the Mátra. From wide pastures, we gaze at the landscape between steeper forested slopes. The area has long been a place for livestock farming; herds, mostly free-range, still spot the green rolling hills. At a wooded residential area, we reach the Z marking, which follows a forestry road winding between houses. Between the forested hills, we begin a gentle climb, crossing a marshy clearing above the houses, then following the stream’s ditch through hornbeam-oak woods. Higher up, the road is only bordered on the left side, while an acacia forest occupies the valley bottom beneath us.

After a short climb, we reach the modest-sized hilltop, where the tree stock changes: century-old, gnarled chestnut trees line the way. There are several similar chestnut rows nearby, characteristic of estate times around Parádfürdő and Parádsasvár, roadside tree rows that protect against extreme weather. The path descends on the eastern slope after the ridge section toward Laki-puszta. Here we first see around the area: among the thick trunks of the chestnuts appears our destination, the elongated Búzás Valley Lake, and beyond the pastures the mass of the Bükk Mountains.

Under the hills, by the lakeside

Descending towards the valley, economic buildings and stables come into view; the former estate livestock farm called Laki-puszta was named after the medieval settlement Lak that stood here. The Árpád-era village disappeared during the Turkish occupation, later only a manor remained in the area. The surrounding region belonged to the Rákóczi family, after the defeat of the war of independence it passed to Mihály Althan and later was owned by the Károlyi family.

At the end of the livestock farm, we reach the groves surrounding the artificial lake and the cart road, which we follow northward to the footbridge of the stream feeding the lake. If the route seems long or due to weather or lack of time you want to shorten it, it is worth following the circular path along the lake southwards on the right, which is just under two kilometers long on the western part of the reservoir. The eastern side offers excellent panoramic views of the Mátra and is therefore recommended.

At the northern tip of the lake, a sign indicates the junction from where we continue right on the Z↺ marking. We exit onto the eastern shore of the Búzás Valley Lake, dammed in 1972 on the Búzás stream, following a wide dirt road. Along the way, there are shaded resting places; the lakeside idyll is enriched by the striking view of the Mátra rising beyond the hills: the mountain’s eastern ridge, from here the huge Kékes block, and further the Galya peak frame the scenery. At the end of the long curve, but before the valley dam of the lake, we turn left to join a forestry road. We turn left on it and start gently ascending, following the Z mark.

Soon, reaching the hilltop, we turn right on the K+ mark, which leads with about a 5-10 minute detour to the next hilltop viewpoint: from here we see the mirror of the lake, the Recsk holiday resort, and the Mátra behind the rolling hills. In the opposite direction, the valley of the Tarna and the barely known mountain range Vajdavár region appear with its highest block, Ökör Hill (in the center).

Returning to the Z mark, we descend again to the lake and cross the valley dam. From here, we see the largest slice of the reservoir since the otherwise narrow basin stretches longitudinally before us. On the far side, we walk under the Recsk resort and join the Z↺ mark at the fishing buffet, turning left to ascend briefly out of the Búzás Valley. After the ridge, we walk back on asphalt to Recsk, facing the huge Mátra ridges framing the settlement. The marking leads to the main road, where turning right onto the K+ sign takes us back to the starting point.