Circular route to the treasures of the volcanoes on the last bastion above Košice

Itinerary:

• We follow the Z+ marking from Telkibánya through the Telki Valley to Pányok and onward to Kéked.
• From Kéked eastwards, we ascend to Hálisten-tető on the S marking.
• From a junction, we turn right, traversing below Nagy-Kopasz on the P+ marking.
• Under Nagy-Pál Hill, we join the P marking (to the right) which leads us back to Telkibánya.

Detailed description of the route:

Above Telkibánya in the Telki Valley

We leave the village at its western end following the Z+ marking, crossing the stream at the last houses and passing through the sawmill. Among constantly renewing stacks of timber, accompanied by the scent of freshly cut wood and the monotonous clatter of the band saw, we turn west. Former ore mills have been replaced by sawmills, exploiting another natural treasure of the region: the perpetually renewing forests. After the war, to solve a wood shortage, the country that had lost much of the Carpathian wilderness logged the forests of the lower mountains, deploying narrow-gauge railways as well. Less known, but the railway that devastated the forests also reached the area around Telkibánya from Gönc, through the Nagy Stream valley — leaving barren hillsides behind.

We start our gentle climb in the pine forest settled in the valley floor of the Telki Valley. Soon we cross mixed groves composed of alder, willow, wild cherry, and wild pear on the banks of the stream, and patches of oak and pine forests. The wild fruit trees and increasingly overgrown meadows are reminiscences of the old rural lifestyle. At the upper end of the valley stood the Zöldmáj farmstead, whose ruins are found on the edge of the uppermost and largest meadow. First, on the right, emerges the collapsed-roof stable, then above it the barn, while on the far side of the road the stone house walls remain the most intact. In the mountain range, several similar farmstead ruins exist, although most are only indicated by shrinking meadows.

Along the wide border of Pányok and Kéked

At the edge of the meadow, among impressive old oaks and mast trees, we step back into the forest and cross the saddle between two valleys. Descending gently on the other side, we emerge into a scrubby pine forest that leads us out to the border of Pányok. The path turns into a wide cart track, providing access to the cultivated fields around the village. Passing by a small orchard and the region's typical Gönc apricot orchard, the panorama opens up over the wide Hernád Valley. Within arm’s reach below us, the ever-smoking chimneys of the steelworks in Košice mark a pillar of industry. The steelworks developed with raw materials from the Gömör-Szepesi Ore Mountains, later supplemented by imported Russian gas and ore, becoming a defining industrial complex of the wider region. Partly, the final days of steel production in Diósgyőr are attributed to this Košice corporate giant that absorbed the competition.

We descend into a shallow valley to the quiet settlement of Pányok, just touching a few houses, representing a characteristic slice of the traditionally preserved village image. The development of Pányok (as well as Kéked and some other settlements along the Hernád) halted after the new border drawn after World War II, which separated the region from the vibrant big city of Košice. Only changes to the Schengen borders affected the demographic characteristics of the aging village when residents from Košice began moving to cheaper Hungarian border villages on the other side.

Over the hill above the village and crossing cultivated fields, we reach Kéked, which, together with Felsőkéked, is the northernmost settlement of our country. At its center stands the splendid medieval castle of the Kéked family, owned for centuries by the Saxon Melczerek family from Upper Hungary. The Zombory family rebuilt it in the 19th century, giving it its current form.

At the lower end of Kéked, the Z+ marking curves in, from which we switch to the S marking in the village center. Then, turning left at the last houses, we leave the settlement on the other side of the stream. Above us are the spa houses of the now less prosperous Kékedfürdő thermal spring. Local folklore says that even King Matthias bathed in the spring water after his hunts. It is certain that spa life flourished here in the 19th century, welcoming guests with 30 rooms and heated tub baths. The facility was damaged during the war and later separated from its main clientele—the citizens of Košice—by the new border. Nevertheless, it was renovated and operated for years as a holiday resort by the county council. Currently, the sulfurous medicinal water flows into the stream, its therapeutic effect unused.

Back to the forest

Leaving the settlement at the meadow edge near the spa, we enter dense woodland which covers our route to the end of the tour at Telkibánya. Initially, we climb through a scrubby oak forest on a southwestern slope, then turn at the waterworks above the village into the Hosszú Valley. We follow the country road between Kéked and Hollóháza for more than a kilometer. When the asphalt starts winding uphill on the hillside, we remain on the valley floor, continuing along a bulldozer track through the narrowing valley. The enclosed forest fills with boulders fallen from the rocky slope at the meeting of two side valleys. Here we find the Radácsi-stone, upon which the researcher’s eye may notice medieval property marks. Above us rise Nagy-Pál Hill and, south of it, the ridges of Kánya Hill, where intensive mining took place in the Middle Ages. During the reign of King Charles Robert, border markers were used to regulate previously unclear property relations.

Leaving the stream behind at the valley head, we climb on increasingly steep terrain to the watershed ridge between Hernád and Bodrog, to Hálisten-tető. There (to the right), we switch to the P+ marking, which curves southwards, connecting between the Kis- and Nagy-Pál Hills to the Rákóczi road and the St. Elizabeth pilgrimage route. The hiking trails running together in the inner region of the mountains connect the medieval castles of the region between Sárospatak and Füzér via Solymos, Regéc, and Amadé Castle, while from Füzér the pilgrimage route continues across the border to the tomb of St. Elizabeth in Košice. On the slope above Hollóháza, we turn back to Telkibánya on the P marking (to the right). The broad bulldozer road leads through closed beech woods on the side of Nagy-Pál Hill, then we transition from the pine forests of Hármáshatár to the gently sloping western oak-covered side of Kánya Hill.

Back to Telkibánya along the Rákóczi road

The P marking follows the gently descending bulldozer track through old oak forests all the way to the foot of Kánya Hill. Adits were deepened in the hill known for its gold and silver ore veins at the end of the Middle Ages to reach the valuable veins more deeply. The dense forest hides the ruined remains of the Mária mine, but the wooden timbering of the adits and terraces piled with waste rock are still discoverable on the increasingly steep edge of the surface, just a few minutes' walk from the bulldozer road.

Near the border of Telkibánya, the hiking trail reaches a grove; in the landscape opening up around the clearings, the peaks of volcanoes rising to the south stand out, as do the densely forested inner regions of the Tokaj Mountains. On the open gravel roads of the fields, we continue walking. After a few hundred meters, the P marking turns left onto the country road passing between Hegyköz and the Hernád valley. We stroll along the edge of the asphalt for more than a kilometer until we reach the first houses of Telkibánya. Below the Reformed church, we pass the former porcelain factory building, which today showcases the village’s industrial history and heritage through striking scenes, medieval and modern-day artifacts, photographs, and documents.

Leaving the narrowing wooded ravine, the broad valley of the Ősva River joins after the Reformed church, carrying the water from the inner regions of the Tokaj Mountains down towards the Hernád. We arrive back at the village center on the wide stream bank beside the town hall and the Catholic church, closing our long circular route.