Excursion on the border of Tolna and Baranya

Itinerary:

• We start from Máza on the Z+ trail.
• Still in the village, we turn off left onto the K◼ trail, which we follow to the Váraljai Valley.
• In the Váraljai Valley, we hike along the K+ trail – along the way taking short detours on the K● trail to the Jägerok Well, and later to the Vadvirág Spring.
• From the pass, we reach the Cigány-hegy lookout on the S trail.
• We return to the pass below Szószék on the S trail.
• From Szószék we descend along the S+ trail.
• In the forest, turning left onto the Z+ trail, we arrive back at Máza.

Detailed description of the hike:

Máza and coal

Economically most interesting is the Jurassic shallow seas, river delta sediments where black coal accumulated, which brought industrialization to the area. Our country’s largest high-calorific-value, excellently coking coal was mined in deep mines at the northern foot of the Mecsek and in the central parts of the mountain range. Coal was extracted in Váralja already at the end of the 18th century; in Máza, a mine shaft was opened in 1829 to extract the coal resources only sporadically found on the surface. Mining communities formed in Máza and the surrounding settlements. With the railway connection built between Szekszárd and Dombóvár, the fuel used until then by local households, brickworks, and limekilns was transported to more distant areas, and the coal mined here also supplied the Danube and Balaton steamships industrially. The coal was delivered by small trains to the railway station built on the border of Máza and Szászvár, where a coal power plant was also built to supply electricity for the mine and the population. The Máza mine closed in 1966.

We start southward from the center of Máza on the Z+ trail, along the main street divided by the creek bed and a walnut tree row. In the heyday of Mecsek mining, at the beginning of the 20th century, a narrow-gauge railway carried coal mined in the Császta mine to the main line, now the Máza-Szászvár railway station. Interestingly, the settlement originally belonging to Tolna county merged with Szászvár for a short two decades in the 1970s, thus administratively belonging to Baranya. After the regime change separation, it remained in Baranya county, moving the county border a few kilometers east.

At the last houses, we turn left onto a cart road following the K◼ trail towards the meadows and orchards above the village. The grassy ridge is open parkland with old fruit trees, especially scenic is the wooded pasture on the opposite hillside, where cattle still rest in the shade of the old oaks. Here one can still experience the pre-industrial atmosphere, when the surrounding hills were still utilized by mixed Hungarian-German communities for grazing and animal husbandry.

From Tolna to Baranya

The cart road quickly enters the forest, from which we will only emerge at the end of the hike, in the valley leading back to Máza; until then, a significant part of our trip is in a forest environment. The initial hornbeam-oak woods on the southern slopes form mixed forests with linden, very common in the Mecsek. The linden is easily recognized by its heart-shaped leaf, its bark smooth gray like the hornbeam’s, which over time develops the grooves characteristic of oak. After the initial climb, mainly we follow the ridge line level; then, we join a gravel forestry road with a turning bend, from where we descend into the Váraljai Valley, crossing from Baranya into Tolna county. Only along the Váraljai ditch does a slice of Tolna county cut into the Mecsek, evident also in the valley’s popularity. Guesthouses, forester’s houses, and hostels welcome on the valley floor clearings, where we turn towards the stream source on the K+ trail.

Initially, the wider valley floor is followed by swampy alder forests along the creek bed. Leaving the last house, we hike in a dark forest typical of ravines, only signposted by a few alders or willows marking the water-rich environment of the stream bank. The increasingly steep, enclosing hillsides are taken over by hornbeams and beeches in the leading role. At the second kilometer of the valley road, a short detour on the K● trail leads to the Jägerok Well, where we can refill our water bottles with pure spring water. From here springs line the stream, as karst water emerges at the rock boundaries from within the mountain.

By the waters

From here, the area becomes noticeably rockier. In the stream bed, typical rock benches and limestone layers of the mountain range are visible, creating small but charming waterfalls. The building and eroding work of the water is well seen: where the water falls over limestone ribs, curtains of limestone deposits resembling pea stones precipitate from karst water on the otherwise deeply carved valley bottom formed in a wetter ice age climate.

At the junction of two side valleys in the narrow gorge, it opens somewhat; here on the right, continuing the Farkas ditch, the hidden Vadvirág Spring is found along the K● trail. Above us rises the Lapát-vár block, bypassed on the left by the K+ trail, and on the western gentler side, a bulldozer road leads up to the ridge between two wildlife fences. After the narrow valley floor, we proceed in the sunny oak forest on the ridge but slightly descend on the other side of the forestry fence to arrive at the Váraljai ditch valley head. Soon we climb to the saddle between Szószék and Hárs hill.

Fairytale panorama

Here we take a short detour to visit Cigány-hegy, as a lookout was built on its karst ridge, offering a beautiful panorama of the central part of the Eastern Mecsek. The S trail joins, which we follow straight to soon reach the Cigány-hegy lookout. The tower, built in 2007, was placed with excellent sense on the otherwise not very high elevation. Due to its central location, it also offers a good view of the surrounding higher peaks, to the north the Dobogó and Szószék blocks, to the south the Hármas hill, and just beside it the highest peak of the mountain range, the Zengő, is also well outlined. In good weather, one can spot the emblematic mountain of the Western Mecsek, the Misina peak and Tubes block clearly standing out with the TV tower, behind which the Papuk range beyond the border is visible. Between Zengő and Hármas hills, through the Szentlászló valley, the Villány mountains are also visible, while the castle valley opens westward towards the Zselic hills.

From the summit back to the village

Having taken in the panorama, it’s worth resting and eating on the bench next to the lookout tower, from where we return to the saddle between Szószék and Hárs hill on the same route (the S trail). We then turn up into the side of Szószék along the S+ trail, where we reach the highest point of our hike around 550 meters. From the old beech forest on the slope of Szószék, along logging clearings, we look out over the eastern and northern slopes of the range, where our path continues. The Szószék and Dobogó blocks are the highest mountains in Tolna county, barely a few meters below 600 meters.

From Szószék, we descend along a winding network of forestry roads into the beech forest characteristic of northern slopes, then on the lower ridge, scenic oak and beech forests alternate as appropriate for exposure. The forestry road leading back connects the S+ trail with the Z+ trail, which we then follow northward. We proceed carefully along the weave of forestry roads, as it’s easy to miss the trail, which soon cuts into the northern slope and leads out onto a forming ridge. Below us stretches the dense forest-covered Máza-wildwater valley, also hiding the former Császta coal mine.

We turn to the opposite side, soon arriving at the edge of Máza along a wide forestry road in the valley bottom, passing by livestock farms. With the densification of the houses and the former railway line from the west joining in, we reach the village in a wide valley. The walnut tree row and the double-winged main street of Máza, familiar from the beginning of the hike, appear again, and we finally return to our starting point.