From Nagyirtás to Kisirtás on panoramic volcanic cones

Itinerary

• We leave Nagyirtás at the P+ trail heading south.
• After the Bezina meadow we turn left onto the Z+ trail.
• At the junction we turn left onto the Z trail and ascend to the summit of Sós Hill.
• At the upper part of Nagy Meadow we take a right detour on the Z▲ trail to the viewpoint.
• We continue on the Z trail until the next junction where we turn left onto the Z+ trail.
• On Nagyirtás, we turn right onto the S+ marked hiking trail on the asphalt road and follow it to reach Kisirtáspuszta.

Detailed description of the hike

A transformed forest settlement: Nagyirtáspuszta

The narrow-gauge railway station of Nagyirtáspuszta currently operates a weekend buffet and offers onward travel options, as well as the Szent Orbán Forest Wellness Hotel which provides accommodation for greater demands. It became known mainly among tourists because of its narrow-gauge railway. The network today stretches from Nagybörzsöny all the way to the Danube at Szob. Nearby Nagybörzsöny was connected to the country’s economic circulation with its ores and vineyards, but at the end of the 19th century the depletion of mines and the phylloxera epidemic drastically rearranged village life. From then on, the only livelihood opportunity for the residents was the forest and its economical utilization. In the early 20th century, narrow-gauge railway tracks were laid to replace much slower methods (e.g., rolling, log slides, or Romanian sleds for dry wood transportation) to deliver the forest’s timber as quickly and simply as possible to the transport arteries of the Ipoly and Danube valleys. Interestingly, locals initially feared the job loss effects of the trains so much that they violently protested the construction—an intervention by gendarmes even led to a fatality. (In hindsight, their fears were unfounded, as the planned forest management and the construction of the Nagybörzsöny processing plant created more jobs than were lost due to the arrival of the trains.)

Nagyirtáspuszta itself was the center of the Nagybörzsöny forest estate owned by the Esztergom Archdiocese. On its vast clearings stood the forester’s house, later functioning as the Komáromi Jenő chalet, and from the 2000s a quality mountain hotel operates there. The size of the clearing has since shrunk, with a significant part planted with pine forests, which are now awaiting felling to be replaced by native tree species. To the south, we leave the narrow-gauge railway station on the P+ trail and descend on a sloping path into the upper and memorably beautiful section of the Bezina Valley. Within minutes, on the left, we may spot a small rocky cave resembling a sharp teeth row: the memory of the local ore mining, an old mine shaft’s opening. Gold, silver, and lead were also extracted here. An interesting fact is that Paul Kitaibel proved tellurium for the first time from rock taken from these mines 9 years before its chemical element description associated with a German scientist.

In the beech forest of Bezina Valley

The valley continues through a young, dense beech forest. Beech is one of the most successful temperate zone tree species of the Holocene, ongoing since the last ice age’s end (and according to many scientists, already ended due to human impact), essentially thanks to its “aggressive” expansion capacity: its closed canopy lets hardly any sunlight reach the ground, thus not allowing other species growing at different rates to strengthen. Above our path in the upper section of Bezina Valley, sunlight highlights the green of young beech leaves forming a roof, under which a steep stream flows with small ripples. The atmospheric, leafy tunnel section of trees is eventually replaced by an older, more diverse forest near the clearing of the Bezina meadow, which is regrowing shrubs. On the far side of the meadow, we turn left to gently ascend in the Bükkös-árok valley on the Z+ trail.

Up to the summits

In the lower section of the valley, a nice, rocky wash accompanying the forest path is soon replaced on the left by a long logging patch fenced off. This path section offers no more sights, but shortly after, turning left at the Lengyel meadows reached soon, we strike out on a memorable landscape along the Z trail. We reach a characteristic area of Börzsöny, characterized by a row of volcanic domes built by former lava flows. From the summit of these sharply steep slopes, clearly standing out from the surroundings on rocky grasslands, we can enjoy splendid views toward the Danube.

We walk north in the forest, and after crossing a dirt road, a steep climb awaits us. We are in the southern oak wood of Sós Hill ascending to a small volcanic dome of eruption center. Like most volcanoes, Börzsöny has undergone several active and physical forms in its multi-million-year life. Besides the high Börzsöny caldera, several small lava domes formed in its southwest ends. Their resistant volcanic rocks (dacite and andesite) raised them above the slowing-down landscape.

On Sós Hill

Climbing Sós Hill, at a hairpin bend a small rock staircase emerges showing the underlying andesitic bedrock. Moving over it, we get closer to the summit. There is no long wait for the panorama: a wide meadow curves in a half circle like a scarf around the peak and below it. Therefore, walking uphill from here, the view is continuous even on the last section.

To the west, Nagy-Galla dominates the landscape, at the foot of the Danube-surrounding mountains the silhouette of the Esztergom Basilica gleams. The rough hills of Gerecse also appear, and we can easily identify the flat back of Pilis Hill. Behind Márianosztra in cover, Csák Hill, significantly mined, stands before us. Beside the Danube Bend, the Visegrád Hills ripple, with the green covers revealing Saint Michael Hill. Near Naszály, the Great Plain unfolds.

On the side of Nagy-Sas Hill

We leave the hill on a trail on the northern side—the path was established by József Horváth, a member of the Budapest Lokomotív Hiking Section, and so this section bears his name today (he was the first to complete the modern Blue Trail, announced in 1952). At the saddle between Sós Hill and Nagy-Sas Hill, a narrow meadow welcomes us whose ridge climbs up to the eastern side cone of the latter hill. Following the Z▲ signs branching from our trail through the trees, we can step out onto the panoramic grassland. To the left rise the enormous block of Nagy-Inóc and the High Börzsöny; to the right, we see the southwestern heights of the range, and to the south unfolds a wide view worth coming for: behind the basin of Kóspallag, forests hide the Danube’s ribbon, but the angular waves of the Visegrád Hills are clearly visible.

Returning to the trail along Nagy-Sas Hill, we climb briefly more (we can detour left to the steeply accessible peak but with strongly limited views), surrounded by dark forest without undergrowth. On the steepest slopes, only thin bushy shrubs survive. This seemingly undisturbed, deadwood-rich, wind-protected forest is replaced by a more open and brighter oak wood at the northern foothill of the hill, where we turn left on the Z+ trail. Shortly after, we arrive at our starting point on the eastern edge of Nagyirtáspuszta.

Back among clearings

We continue on the asphalt road branching right in front of the Szent Orbán Hotel, from which the S+ marked forest trail departs to the left at the forest edge. Twice we cross the horseshoe curve overcoming the narrow-gauge railway’s altitude difference and approach our final destination through the quiet valley disturbed only by the occasional rumble of trains. It is worth noting that the cooler left slope exposed to less sun is covered by beech forest, while the sunnier right side is mainly covered by mixed forest dominated by oaks.

Joining from the left is the other Nagyirtás marking before our final destination appears within minutes. Kisirtáspuszta is known today for the zigzagging, technically called “switchback” narrow-gauge railway and its forest accommodations (a key hostel and two key houses), and earlier served as a repair base for the rolling stock of lines networked in the surrounding valleys. From the small hollow determined by the confluence of the streams, we can travel further toward Nagybörzsöny and Márianosztra or Szob, if we arrive at suitable times.