Following the partisans on the border zone

Itinerary :

• Walk 3.2 km from Karancsberény following the P marking
• From here, follow the Z◼ marking to the border
• At the border, switch to the Northern Green Z mark and follow it along the border all the way to the lookout tower
• From the lookout tower, walk back on the Z mark to the Z◼ junction, then turn right and walk down to Karancsberény

Detailed description of the hike :

Karancsberény lies in a wide valley under the 336 m high Bodolló peak, at the meeting of two small streams, with nicely maintained, tidy houses. The most valuable monument in the village is the Roman Catholic All Saints Church, recorded as having been built by two serfs in 1246, after the ruler elevated them to the rank of noble royal servants. However, this likely did not happen as recorded, as the church was probably built earlier and they only rebuilt it. The current building was constructed in late Baroque style by Count Gábor Berényi, the owner of the castle opposite the church. The fate of the castle reflects changing times well: it was built in the 18th century, served as a pub in the early 20th century, then functioned as a residential building, and since 1990 it houses the municipal office.

There are several abandoned settlements (pustas) near the village border—once existing settlements that have now completely disappeared. The most significant of these is Nagyaranypuszta, mentioned in a 1246 charter as Aron, neighboring Ragyolc. It was destroyed during Ottoman rule. In Pálházapuszta stands a hunting lodge built in 1937, which between December 14-22, 1944 served as the headquarters of a two-hundred-strong partisan unit led by Sándor Nógrádi. For this reason, in 1966, the Nógrádi Partisan Group Memorial Museum was established here, which closed after 1990 and the building became privately owned. Also here is the summer residence of former MSZMP General Secretary János Kádár, built in the style typical of the 1960s.

The Valley of the Farkas Stream and Pálházapuszta

Starting from Karancsberény Pipitér bus stop, we head east along the P marking on Béke Street. Next to the bus stop, there is a liquor store. At a voltage pole surrounded by lilac bushes, the asphalt road bends left. On this road, we will ascend gently for 3 km along fields, meadows, and alder-willow groves bordering the stream. The road and landscape also offer an excellent cycling route.

Many do not know that the wild variety of hops, an important raw material in beer production, grows abundantly near water habitats in our country. Along the fences and roadside bushes accompanying the road, wild hop vines with tripartite, dark green, rough hairy leaves can often be found. It is worth crushing the plant to recognize its strong, resinous scent. At summer's end, sticky, aromatic-resinous cones used for bittering and flavoring beer appear on the plant. Brewers say that wild hops are not worthwhile to try because they impart an excessively strong taste. Its spring shoots are considered the most expensive ingredient in gourmet cuisine, costing about 1000 dollars per kilo, but these are likely not harvested from wild hops.

A sign on the right side of the road indicates that we are entering the Karancs–Medves Landscape Protection Area, with a total area of 6,700 hectares, of which 447 hectares are strictly protected. To the north, on the other side of the border, the Cseres Mountains Landscape Protection Area in Slovakia adjoins; originally declared protected in 1989 and extended in 2001. The “land of extinct volcanoes” is significant for its lifeless natural values, including former volcanoes, lava flows, stone seas, 44 non-karst caves, and 1,250 plant species belonging to the Pannon flora region. The most valuable parts are strictly protected.

About 3 km into the road, we pass through Pálházapuszta, where after a woodpile, the P marking turns right onto a dirt road at the 1937-built Légrády hunting lodge. Nearby is János Kádár's former hunting trail. After about 200 meters, we switch to a nearly level, paved forestry road, which can be muddy in rainy weather. While the P marking continues right, we start following the Z◼ mark to the left. The markings are sparse and not always present at major junctions, but generally we proceed level or slowly uphill. We cover another 3 km on this road until the Z◼ marking branches off left onto a dirt road.

Green trail on the border

After a few hundred meters, we reach the border, along which we will walk 10 km following the Northern Green Z marking, also followed by the P marked bike path. This will be the most beautiful part of our hike, crossing forests and meadows. At the junction is an information board of the Novohrad-Nógrád Geopark, and along the route, there are benches and information boards placed in pairs at regular intervals as part of Hungarian-Slovak cooperation, listing the area's geological landmarks.

After climbing the steep slope of Nagy-Arany Hill, the mark turns right. Here we can pause at a rest area with a beautiful view of the lower-lying Slovak territories. From here starts the short Z▲ marking to the mountain peak, but it is completely unremarkable with no view, so the walk is not necessarily worthwhile.

Then follows a long, flat saddle. Here we encounter an information board about the Cseres Mountains' special bird protection area. Another board tells tales about the “speckled stones.” The Karancs-Medves region is composed of marine sediments and volcanic rocks that have penetrated and cover them. The 25-30 million-year-old shallow sea-formed Pétervására sandstone, or glauconitic sandstone by its older name, often contains patterns made up of concentric circles because the dissolved iron content in the seeping water precipitates in cockade-like bands a few millimeters wide. These formations are called speckled stones by locals. Near our route, northeast of Karancsberény, close to the Slovak-Hungarian green border, in a stream valley, there are strange rock formations. Their base color is gray or ocher-yellow, crossed irregularly by dark brown bands, with one spot even showing bright red coloration.

After 8 km through the border forest along the ridge, we reach a beautiful meadow. From a resting place here, we can enjoy the view northward, but shortly after, the panorama opens fully all around, towards both countries. The church towers of Karancs and Karancsberény can be seen clearly. The Palóc people considered the mountain sacred, believing that a tree reaching the sky grew on its top. From here, it is evident why the triple peak reminded them of a reclining pregnant woman. The meadow is perhaps the only human intervention in nature that leads not to a decrease, but to an increase in plant and animal diversity. Before the arrival of grazing and farming humans, Northern and Central Europe was mostly covered by closed forests (oak, beech, and at higher elevations, conifers). Meadows and clearings were rare, so one could hardly see far from anywhere. Grazing and farming made it necessary thousands of years ago for our ancestors to cut forests to create pastures and arable lands. Besides pastures, meadows were left untouched to collect winter fodder, mowing once or twice a year and gathering the hay.

The meadow flora is very rich, with many protected species in our country, including numerous orchids. This surprising phenomenon can be explained by the balanced competition among plant species due to mowing; none of the species introduced from virgin grasslands could dominate others at the expense of the rest. Unfortunately, due to urbanization and intensive animal husbandry, more and more meadows are left untended or ungrazed. Once regular mowing-grazing stops, succession begins: new species—first shrubs—appear, and in four to five years hawthorn, blackthorn, and wild rose thorny bushes cover the abandoned meadows, followed by trees. It takes 30-50 years for dense, impenetrable bushes to develop into some form of forest. Therefore, one of the important tasks of national parks is to preserve these valuable, human-created plant communities. This is often solved by grazing ancient Hungarian livestock breeds, such as racka sheep or gray cattle.

A small detour to the lookout tower

At the corner of the huge meadow, the Z◼ mark descends left along a forestry road, which we will follow back toward Karancsberény. However, before that, continuing on the Z mark, let’s make a detour to the four-story lookout tower located 800 meters from here! The mark first climbs steeply, then descends, so it might be simpler to bypass at level by choosing the right fork at the triple junction. From the top of the steel-structured building above Lipovany village on the Slovak side of the border, on clear days you can see as far as Sitno and the High Tatras.

Returning from the lookout, the Z◼ mark (also a marked bike route here) descends steeply on a dirt road that becomes very slippery in wet weather. Before the village, there are rows of beehives during working hours, so proceed cautiously! We arrive at the previously unseen end of the Karancsberény valley through a wide valley. This part of the village is also pretty, spreading widely on both sides of the stream flowing at the valley bottom. In front of a house, there are old stone-carved milestones. We finish the hike at the starting point, Karancsberény Pipitér bus stop.