Floodplain forests and conquering heroes – the Sanctuary Forest of Tőserdő

• From the Tőserdő free beach, follow the counterclockwise Z↺ trail of the Kontyvirág nature trail to the Z▲ junction.
• At the Z▲ junction, make a short detour to the Sulymos Lake birdwatching.
• Return to the Z↺ trail until reaching the Z trail.
• Walk along the Z trail all the way to the endpoint of the hike, Tiszaalpár.

Detailed description of the hike

The Tőserdő

At the Tőserdő recreational area belonging to Lakitelek, at the free beach, you will find the starting board of the Kontyvirág nature trail, where we begin our hike. Along the Z↺ trail, under a chestnut tree row, we leave the Tisza Lake behind – parking on our left, an open-air stage and football pitch on our right, then turn left past the eco-tourism center building. From the asphalt road under the holiday houses, the Z↺ trail soon enters the Tőserdő forest, typical of floodplain associations.

Lower areas periodically flooded have formed a so-called softwood forest, characterized by willows and poplars, while higher areas are dominated by ash, elm, and oak species. The name Tőserdő is derived from the word for 'oak forest.' Climbing plants darken the forest while several special plants like the eastern hepatica find suitable living conditions in the shaded herb layer. Invasive and nuisance species have also appeared in the forest, mostly recognizable by the characteristic leaves of black locust.

We pass by the remains of a dried-up spring and reach the fence of the Kontyvirág Forest School, behind which stands a huge, old sycamore. We follow a trail and reach the Mayfield, near the Tőserdő Castle Recreation, the former Horthy hunting lodge, later a forester’s lodge. We pass Szederkényi Zoltán’s memorial post, a forester who served in the Tőserdő for 42 years, then find an old, non-functioning fountain by the castle fence. Its inscription – "a gift of the county council to the KISZ" – reminds of the pre-regime change times when pioneer and KISZ camps and May Day celebrations were held on the meadow.

In the sanctuary of old trees

It is worth exploring around the Mayfield. Here is the forest section where trees over 150 years old form a significant age group, qualifying as a "sanctuary forest" according to WWF Hungary – the only one on the Hungarian section of the Tisza floodplain. Although the age of the trees is special, the floodplain forest of Tőserdő itself is unique as it preserved the typical landscape before the 19th-century river regulations along the Tisza.

We leave behind beehives, nature trail signs, and a barrier, entering the most spectacular forest section of our route. Old trees, 15-20 m high, have lianas hanging from their branches, with a developed understory adding diverse species. Soon on the right, the Z▲ starts, cutting straight through rows of young, formerly planted black locust trees. We reach a meadow where our next stop appears: the Sulymos Lake birdwatching site, next to a faded nature trail sign.

We return to the Z↺ path and shortly turn right on the Z marked trail along the dead branch shore, leaving the Kontyvirág nature trail route that leads back to the Tőserdő free beach. We continue on a less-traveled path through wild forest. We cross a water erosion sluice that regulates the water amount of the marshy area of Sulok Lake on our right. We reach the Alpári meadow, continuing the next section of the hike along a bumpy road next to the fenced pasture.

The history of river regulation...

The drastically different vegetation and usage of the meadow and Tőserdő perfectly illustrate the landscape transformation caused by 19th-century river regulations. The flat area between the Lakitelek and Tiszaalpár dead branches was a floodplain in the Árpád era, managed by controlled flooding (fokgazdálkodás). The Turkish era caused irreversible damage to the necessary infrastructure: besides the destruction of built elements, the Great Plain was almost completely depopulated, and traditional knowledge required for fokgazdálkodás was lost under several generations of Turkish rule. From the late 17th century, resettled villages partly abandoned fokgazdálkodás due to the lack of this 'know-how.' Meanwhile, population growth in the Habsburg Empire and changed world market trends increased the value of arable land, initiating the drainage of floodplains and marshlands in Hungary.

The process lasted several hundred years – consider the drainage of the Hanság, finished within KISZ camps – with period-appropriate thinking and technology. Although confined between narrow dikes, the river’s floodwave became higher but receded faster, causing less damage to agriculture. However, 21st-century climatic changes, especially severe summer droughts, also pointed attention towards water retention as crucial for the viability of the Great Plain. Several plans for reservoirs similar to Lake Tisza were developed, and a few local fokgazdálkodás restoration projects have already happened – one of which we encounter along our route – but no unified, central concept has yet been developed concerning the future of Hungarian water management.

The vast pasture’s view is only broken by groups of trees providing shade for animals. In the background, Tiszaalpár’s church tower is already visible. On our left, by the Lakitelek dead branch shore, is a poplar grove with abundant black locust in the understory. After about 2 km, we reach the corner of a sluice and turn right along the fence: we leave the Lakitelek dead branch – cutting off its bend like our predecessors – and head towards Tiszaalpár. On our left stretches a canal with duckweed and standing water, connecting the two dead branches. Approaching Tiszaalpár, it becomes apparent that the large village lies on a slightly "higher" level: riverside settlements developed on flood-safe ground. Since the river regulations, this is no longer relevant for houses, but examining old, important buildings (e.g. church, school) assures that before the mid-18th century, water did not flood these areas.

...and hopeful future

At an old white poplar, we return among trees and continue the hike on a sandy road alongside the Alpári dead branch of the Tisza. We cross a canal, dredged due to a flood management model project of the Kiskunság National Park. The semi-natural canal sluice connecting the Alpári dead branch and the Great Lake allows controlled water and fish inflow and outflow, effectively creating the opportunity for fokgazdálkodás. Also, reflecting this progressive approach, the summer dam protecting the Alpári meadow from the floodplain was not raised, so floodwaters of increasingly erratic floods in the 2020s can spread out here. This is why animal husbandry takes place on this huge, 40 km² area rather than crop production.

Arriving at Tiszaalpár

On our left, the open water surface of the dead branch accompanies us. Once, the main branch of the Tisza flowed here at the border of Tiszaalpár, so the river’s "relocation" affected the village's economic and market connections. The settlement, however, has regained vitality: in 2024, we arrive at a living village of 4800 inhabitants, featuring an elementary school, a larger grocery store, and other services. The Z trails pass by a wooded-park where most of Tiszaalpár’s monuments stand: the Petőfi statue, the beautifully carved and colorfully painted memorial post for the martyrs of Arad; monuments for WWI and WWII, as well as the Trianon memorial. From here, it is only 100 m to Várdomb, also under the national park’s protection.

On the loess cliff of the Tisza floodplain, Bronze Age and Árpád Era people built fortifications; today we can walk around these earthwork ramparts built on top of each other. From the hill, there is a beautiful view towards the Alpári meadow and Great Lake, and detailed information about its history can be read on the info boards located on-site.

The Z trail turns at the foot of Várdomb and climbs up to the Temple Hill, once connected but separated by a deep moat in the Bronze Age. Stairs lead up to the statue of Árpád Prince, a highly respected figure in local history. Anonymus refers to this battle as the Alpár battle, where the conquering Hungarians won a decisive victory over the armies of Zalán (Salanus), a Bulgarian prince. In local mythology, it was long believed that Alpár means Tiszaalpár, and Zalán’s center was identified with the village's earthwork fortress, which is why several place names commemorating the conquest appear in the region (Árpádtelep, Árpádszállás). However, archaeological research confirms that the Tiszaalpár earthwork was not inhabited at the end of the 9th century, so if the battle took place, it was not here, and many historians even question the battle’s very existence.

We pass in front of the Roman Catholic church, then descend from the hill to reach a reconstruction of an Árpád-era village. This was the first of its kind in Hungary, built in 2000 based on nearby excavations. At the open-air museum, we can see how our ancestors lived, with reed- and earth-roofed, sunken adobe houses, an outdoor oven, animal pens, herders’ huts, and a wattle well – all within the area protected by the national park.

We spend the last few hundred meters of our hike winding through Tiszaalpár’s streets until we reach the main street and the Tiszaalpár, Mátyás király street bus stop, from which buses also depart towards Lakitelek. We still have about a kilometer to walk to the village’s railway station.