Geological adventures in the heart of the Palóc region

Itinerary:

• We walk up from Mátranovák to Fehérszék on an unmarked path, then on to Kis-Lyukas-kő.
• From Kis Lyukas-kő we follow the P marker along the Szénégető Stream valley all the way to the ridge.
• On the ridge, we continue on the "Kohász Kék" K marker joining us (to the left).
• From the ridge, we descend along the K◼ marker through Mátracserpuszta back to Mátranovák.

Details of the route:

On the bone-white humps

We start from the center of Mátranovák without tourist markings, following the valley stretching east along Dózsa György Street, accompanied by neat houses and award-winning farms. At the edge of the village, an information board advertises Fehérszék, visible barely one kilometer away. We soon ascend steadily on a cart road, which as a direct continuation of Dózsa György Street leads to the saddle. Emerging almost abruptly from the dense shaded forest, we reach Fehérszék, where only a sparse grove of scrawny bushes and trees remains on the bone-exposed ribs of the hillside. In the nearly one-hectare central area almost nothing can survive or hold the soil on the constantly crumbling and decaying surface, thus revealing the geological base of the hillside.

The rhyolite visible here is found in many places in the country, even up to the northern foreland of the Mecsek, and was mostly formed by volcanic eruptions on the dry land along the edge of the Pannon Sea. The eruption's layers of ash are well visible in the sometimes grayish-green, light-toned tuff. Black mica biotite crystals, characteristic of acidic environments, can be seen in the homogeneous matrix, and clay minerals filling voids of plant debris buried during the eruption appear in various color shades.

The English term "badland" aptly describes the barren tuff surface, its bleak landscape, and its limited ability to retain a fertile soil layer. Where erosion is fastest, even the roots of trees and grasses cannot hold the soil. Large areas of such barren landscape can be found at Fehérszék, creating a sharp contrast with the surrounding forested regions. Sometimes, the runoff water carves deep canyons and caves into the soft rock, reaching meters which meet in channels deep under the collapsing surface. Besides being a spectacle, the rocky hillside is also an interesting viewpoint: from here, we see the higher forested ridges of the rolling hills, with the houses of Mátracserpuszta poking through the forest across, which we also visit at the end of our route.

The cart road crossing the rhyolite tuff surface, after the white rocks, turns into the thickening oak forest. Here is another saddle with a junction where we should take the less traveled forestry road downward to the right; the number 11 can be seen on a wooden pole. We descend steeply into Kápolna valley, joining the cart road following the valley bottom after the loading meadow. We stroll down through a charming floodplain forest. Some large willows tower over the shaded dense valley bottom, providing shelter for the local wildlife. The cart road turns right at the meadows of Szent-völgy and crosses the stream, flowing into the wide forestry road leading to Ivád, where we turn left toward the stream’s source area, following the P marker.

Holes in the sandstone

At the junction, a massive sandstone wall rises right in front of us, within arm's reach from the road. The Kis-Lyukas-kő shows elongated oval protrusions typical of sandstones, sticking out several tens of centimeters from the easily crumbly surface. These silica strings are layers of silicic acid solutions flowing through the porous sandy sediment, which created significantly harder sections in the otherwise friable sandstone.

From the bend, the larger sibling of Kis-Lyukas-kő can be seen across the meadows alongside the stream, the Nagy-Lyukas-kő, protruding as a look-out point from the hillside, visible only from below. Actually, this is best seen here, where the canopy of the piedmont forest does not yet cover the walls. The Nagy-Lyukas-kő is also characterized by parallel striping, but here, conversely, the surface has eroded: striated depressions can be seen compared to the cliff as a whole, caused by the erosion of softer sediment layers. Although not visible from the forest, a hermit's cave can be found in the cliff, which was formed by expanding a cavity originally along bedding planes, made by monks retreating into the solitude of the Szent-völgy. Locally, the Nagy-Lyukas-kő is also called Táltos Rock, and lower down we find a Remete Hill as well.

Deep in the primeval forests

The sandy cart road faithfully follows the stream upward. We skirt the pasturelands and hay meadows of the floodplain until Szénégető-puszta, located at the meeting of the valleys. Here the Ivád Stream is already called Szénégető Stream, referring to the utilization of the extensive surrounding forests in past centuries. Nowadays, a tidy farmstead and a neat hunting lodge stand where former residential buildings were, where wood was arranged in piles and carbonized with restricted oxygen, then transported through Ivád to Pétervására.

We continue climbing on the cart road skirting the farmstead on the right into the narrowing valley among the hills. The meadows disappear, and the valley wedged between increasingly steep hillsides narrows into a cut closed by dense oak forests. The cart road avoids a side valley in a large arc, steadily climbing toward the ridge. The area is called Disznó-lak, reminiscent of the abundant wildlife in the dense forest. These forests are closely connected with the forested areas at the border of Nógrád, Heves and Borsod counties, where the largest uninhabited area can be found in Hungary. Furthermore, through green corridors, it connects the Ipoly and Rima rivers to the forests of the Carpathians, through which large predators eradicated from the area have returned by the beginning of the 21st century. Bears and wolves are definitely present in these forests thanks to the rich prey and relative peace.

After going around the Disznó-lak basin in a wide arc, we reach the ridge where we connect to the "Kohász út" K marker, following the forestry road winding westward on the ridge. Here, at the junction, we can look through a clearing into the forest block stretching northeast, among the untouched mountains of the Vajdavár Hills. The K marker mainly follows the forestry cart road, diverging only in a few places, cutting through forest paths on the hilltops to save big bends.

Clay and sand

The cart road cuts into sandy and clay layers, so we travel on reddish, hard clay lenses and softly scattering sandy surfaces. In rainy weather, the clay swells and becomes plastic, making progress difficult, while moisture precisely binds the sand grains. In dry periods, the two materials behave opposite: while the clay creates a hard surface, sand grains scatter without bonding under the weight of our steps, sand slips underfoot, making progress difficult.

In a few spots, forest clearings offer views of the surrounding area, from the ridge we can see far into the wooded hills, framed to the south by the main ridge of the Mátra. The eastern sawtooth ridge culminates in the Kékes block, the characteristic TV tower, while to the west the rugged ridge of Galyatető rises with its communication towers. Some clearings also provide views northward, from which beyond the neighboring Vajdavári Hills we can spot the distant heights of the Bükk Plateau.

Above the source area of the Szénégető Stream, we go around the wide basin below and follow a forest road along the back of Kukucs Hill, bypassing the bend of the cart road. On the far side, a short section of the K◼ marker joins, descending southward on the southern side of Nádas-orom toward Mátranovák. We follow this path; leaving the forest, we cross hay meadows and enter Nógrád county. The tree-covered mountain top, surrounded by meadows and dense forests, is an idyllic spot for wildlife. Walking quietly and attentively we are very likely to see forest animals: foxes, rabbits, roe deer, red or fallow deer, and the hilltop offers a panorama toward the previously hidden northwest. To the west, volcanic cones from the neighboring basalt area can be found, the hills of Báron and the Medves Plateau.

The idyll of Cserpuszta

We descend on a steep forest road to another meadow where the previously sandy, crumbly surface changes to a harder base. From here, we follow volcanic rhyolite tuff, hardened on its layers with visible rhyolite, as already seen at Fehérszék. At the roadside cut, especially on the increasingly steep ridge section, the geological base below the surface unfolds and the light gray rock becomes visible.

The gently sloping ridge offers ideal location for a few houses and wide meadows composing the settlement of Cserpuszta. On the hilltop meadows after the period of devotion, estates with herds and cattle grazed. The settlement’s foundation lies in the locals fleeing the Turkish tax burdens, living drawn into the forests, creating clearings and pastures reclaimed from the woods. Before the cart road carved in the 20th century leading down to Mátranovák, the high-lying part of the settlement could only be approached by footpaths.

The longest sidewalk

We descend on the cart road near the boundary of meadows and oak forests, where we turn onto a barely visible forest path, connecting to a forest trail made of concrete slabs leading down to the village. During the motorization era, in the mid-20th century, the so-called longest sidewalk of the country was created, a concrete path following the shortest way between Mátranovák and Cserpuszta for many kilometers.

At the valley bottom, we pass a reservoir, then climb up the forest concrete sidewalk on the opposite slope. We cross a bridge made of iron plates, beyond which a marked trail leads to a fissure spring where fresh spring water can be taken. The path climbing to the ridge also passes a small chapel, shyly hidden among the tree foliage. Its barely a few meters tall tower is designed so that one can climb a steep staircase to preach to the gathered faithful below.

After passing the highest point, we cross the watershed between the Tarna and Zagyva rivers and descend steeply toward Mátranovák. We cut through thicket forest, crossing the cart road where the village houses already appear. Next to the last gate, we reach the settlement along the concrete sidewalk.

Mátranovák also joined the series of mining settlements exploiting the Northern Hungarian coal resources: coal has been mined at the village border since 1857. Industrialization and steel production created a new center, a colony at the lower end of the village. Currently, a factory specialized in bridge manufacturing is located here, where among others, elements of the Rákóczi (formerly Lágymányosi), the Dunaföldvár bridge, and the Mária Valéria bridge between Párkány and Esztergom were produced. Walking toward the center at the upper village end, only the neat Palóc farms stand out. Under the church there is a monument for the heroes of the world wars, and a gravestone commemorating the approximately five hundred dead of the 1873 cholera epidemic.

When the K◼ marker "runs out", continuing along Dózsa György Street leads to the already known route to the bus stop.