From the western ends towards High Börzsöny

Itinerary

• From Kisirtáspuszta we start on the S+ trail through the Kollár Valley.
• At Zálog Ridge we turn to the S◼ trail and follow it to Fagyos Spring.
• From the spring, we climb on the K◼ trail near the Nagy-Hideg Mountain, but we reach the summit along the K trail.
• From the tourist house we head east along the K trail and follow it to Rakodó.
• We turn left onto the P▲ trail.
• From the Hanák Meadow we follow the P+ signs to the junction below Pintér Ridge.
• We head left on the K trail crossing Bányapuszta.
• On the side of the Nagy-Pogány Mountain we switch left onto the K+ trail.
• From the Pogány Meadow through the Pogány Creek valley we climb to a saddle on the K+ trail.
• We turn right on the K◼ trails.
• From the Rustok Saddle take a short detour to the lookout on the K▲ trail!
• We descend on the K◼ trail to the Nagybörzsöny asphalt road.
• Following the K signs left we arrive at the main square of Nagybörzsöny.

Detailed tour description

Alternating deep valleys

Kisirtáspuszta was once the center and junction of a small railway network facilitating timber harvesting in the surrounding forests - here they repaired and maintained the rolling stock. Then, the motorization of the 1960s boosted the construction of paved access roads: the tracks disappeared, and concrete roads were built in the mountain range. As a result of tourist interest, however, we can still enjoy the atmosphere of the small trains if we undertake the long but pleasant ride from Nagybörzsöny, Szob, or Márianosztra. Kisirtáson you can also see the last switchback of our country, a Z-shaped railway junction that allows the trains to change direction to overcome altitude difference.

Our hike targeting the High Börzsöny starts from among the huts on the S+ trail. The southwestern part of this mountain area has a very branched water network, the streams have carved deep valleys with short side valleys among them, featuring steep slopes but mostly low ridges (see the explanation of the phenomenon in the description of Rustok Mountain). We set out in the Kollár Valley but soon leave the forest road accompanying the stream, the old narrow-gauge railway track. At the first junction, we turn left and climb in a initially steep ditch along the S◼ trail.

The beautiful hornbeam forest is replaced by an oak forest with grass-covered ground as we cross onto a path heading right to the warm southwest-facing hillside. Due to the dense water network, wide ridges are not typical here, so the landscape characteristic changes often: in the István Ridge side we step again in beech forest. We descend to the Fagyos Spring, a spot adorned with a rest area and a small pond that already resembles the higher terrain surfaces of Börzsöny. It is a sad place: we can only guess from the flat tamped soil that until recently a chalet stood in the cool, shady valley bottom. The lovely building, whose attic with mattresses was open anytime for hikers as a real refuge, caught fire for unknown reasons and burnt down to ashes. The thought of rebuilding was unfortunately opposed by the forestry and national park, so one of the best trekking areas of our country became poorer in its scarce forest accommodation by a valuable and irreplaceable piece.

In pine forests to Nagy-Hideg Mountain

A little higher up, in the same valley (we now walk on the K◼ trail), enormous rock blocks appear among the trees on the left. Nothing remains of the log cabin building of the Bőrös chalet today, although it provided a resting opportunity in an idyllic spot on the edge of High Börzsöny. We step onto a thin ridge at the top of a steep climb, thus reaching a branch of Nagy-Inóc. Following a slightly widening ridge, we arrive at the K trail in the beautiful pine forest green with ferns reminiscent of Transylvania or Upper Hungary, where we turn left straight towards Nagy-Hideg Mountain. It is worth noting about Kammerhof that the last narrow-gauge railway branch of Börzsöny (in 1951) was led here, reaching the old beech forest standing high with many switchbacks, whose harvesting necessitated the laying of rails. The place is now green with pine forest.

On our right appears the ski lift; after a few more bends on the rocky service road, a massive pine tree emerges behind which lies the tourist house. The kitchen of the only shelter in High Börzsöny is mostly open only on weekends; from the grassy peak behind it, we can admire the Danube Bend and the Visegrád Hills view, and also find Gerecse. The house was started in the 1930s but was only completed after World War II. The massive stone building has stood unchanged in form on the mountainside since then.

Enclosed in a ring

We continue the hike following the K marks - when the trail steeply descends right at the end of the clearing, it is worth detouring left along the path up to the ski slope meadow. From here there is a great view of Csóványos. After a few minutes we reach Rakodó, where we must take the left branch before the cross. On the P▲ path, we enter the interior of the deeply sunken volcanic ruin structure, leaving the ridge behind. Due to the mountain ring surrounding the area, this is a windless part of the mountain range, which with its immobility, remoteness and its close-to-nature forest with grim rocky outcrops radiates peaceful harmony - despite the two ski slope clearings. Ice damage in 2014 (and earlier storms) caused significant holes in the closed beech forests, so here and there we look down into the valley where waters collect at Black Creek. We also bypass a mossy stone sea on the left - during the ice ages, the freezing and thawing water volume changes shattered and broke the fragmented lava rocks. The settled vegetation indicates that the stones are no longer moving.

At the foot of Nagy-Hideg Mountain, our trail joins the P+ signs, so from here we follow them further straight on. From the edge of Hanák Meadow and a neighboring clear-cut, we can both look back to the Csóványos-Magosfa ridge and, looking around, perceive the enclosure of Börzsöny's caldera. The high edges are only broken by Black Creek; at the mouth of its valley, we can peek towards Upper Hungary, and in sufficiently clear weather, we can also spot the outer arc of the Carpathians' volcanic series in the distance. We arrive on a slightly undulating path passing through a forest partly interrupted by logging to below Pintér Ridge, where we turn left on the K trail. (Although one might think it is not really the National Blue Trail but its regional partner, the local blue trail exploring the mountain range's edge.)

In the area of collapsed mine shafts

Leaving the obviously used service road, we descend steep, slippery paths through young forest to sunny Bányapuszta, where forestry signs stand. Several buildings inhabited the small clearing in the past, which was the center of mining operations in the neighboring valleys. During the initial operation of the volcanic area, ore deposits gave gold and silver to the area, which were brought to the surface from short tunnels. A bulldozer road winds along the deep, stone-covered creek ditch, but we must be alert because about 1.5 km later, we must leave the Bánya Creek valley on a barely noticeable path to the left. The K+ sign leads into the bushes - an apparently neglected route, although its builders even covered the track with flat stones to make the mountainside passable. It may have once been a hunting trail.

We ford through stinging nettle and thick vegetation, then soon arrive at the Pogány Meadow clearing. There is no real view from the idyllic hayfield, but the mountain-surrounded sight is charming. We descend via a small serpentine path to the Kovács Creek valley (which hides the entrances of 3 collapsed mine shafts higher up), which we soon leave to cut through another ridge along a clear-cut. We stand just a stone's throw above Fagyos Spring, but if we do not want to close the route as a loop, turn right on the K◼ trail!

A little-known panorama

On oak and sometimes rocky mountainsides, we wind along a somewhat monotonous section (initially on the track of an old narrow-gauge railway switchback), until at a fork the K▲ trail calls us left. Within minutes we reach a sunlit slope grassland, the Rustok Mountain. The panorama is magnificent: the Nagy-Inóc block, the far side of the deeply cut valley under us (Hegyes Mountain ridge), and in the distance we can spot Nagy-Hideg Mountain and a little lower the Csóványos. From this vantage point nothing breaks the forest cover, the continuous, closed forest is a captivating sight. Dark brown andesite blocks scattered in yellow grass color the scene. The lookout is rarely visited by tourists, so we do not expect any traffic.

The area is geologically interesting: the pointed Hegyes Mountain ridge ahead is probably a displaced fragment of the High Börzsöny in the background. Different operational phases and types succeeded each other in the volcanic area of Börzsöny over millions of years. The ore deposits fueling mining around Nagybörzsöny were due to solutions passing through the rock mass cracks, which also had a strong weathering effect. The massive volcano structure of High Börzsöny was built on weathered rocks on its southwestern side, and after a while the weakened base could not support its weight: the volcanic dome slid down with enormous force in this direction. The displaced mountain block's messenger may be the cone of Hegyes Mountain ridge, which has not moved very far from its original location. These rapidly eroding weathered rocks came to the surface then, and the river erosion relatively easily cut through them - explaining the area’s deep, dense valley network.

We return to the K◼ signs, and descend through increasingly gentle and warm microclimate oak forests to the boundary of Nagybörzsöny. Before we reach the asphalt road, we must fight our way through a densely overgrown, unpleasantly bushy section. Following the K signs left, we finally walk into the western gateway settlement of the mountain range, Nagybörzsöny.