Geological walk in the Palóc Hills

Itinerary

• From the Parádfürdő, Kórház bus stop, we first make a short detour to the Rákóczi tree on the S trail.
• Returning to Parádfürdő center, we continue on the S trail to the intersection of Kristály street, where we turn onto the road behind the hospital.
• By going around the hospital from the north, we climb on the S▲ marked path to the Fehér-kő Lookout.
• From the Fehér-kő Lookout, we descend on the ridge following the Z▲ trail to the Z trail junction.
• Following the Z trail, we hike to Mátraderecske, bypassing the Lahóca hill to the junction of Kanázsvár street.
• On Kanázsvár street, on the ZL trail, we make a short detour to the csevicekút, to the Büdös water.
• Returning to the Z trail, we continue our way to the Kürti-patak valley, reaching the Lángos housing estate.
• From the Lángos housing estate, we arrive by the asphalt road leading to Recsk on the Z↺ trail, at the Recsk, Mátraderecskei junction bus stop.

Detailed description of the hike

The peaceful atmosphere of Parádfürdő at the foot of the volcanic mountains

We start from the Parádfürdő hospital bus stop, first making a short detour on the S trail to the remaining part of the giant trunk of the Rákóczi tree. The nearly 300-year-old hornless oak had a trunk circumference of nearly 5.5 meters, but it was felled by a storm in 2016; its surviving roots twist high above the ground towards the sky. According to folk tradition, Francis II Rákóczi tied his horse to this tree while traveling to his properties in Parádfürdő. A huge rain protection roof was placed over the tree on the ground to protect it from rot and decay.

After the detour to the Rákóczi tree, we set off on the S trail to discover the center of Parádfürdő. The village's peaceful bath buildings and castle were built during the 19th century under the Károlyi family to develop the spa life and exploit the discovered medicinal waters. The healing of spa guests was attempted to be completed by time spent in nature and the joy of movement, so many walking paths were established around Parádfürdő, although most of these have become abandoned today.

Next to the spa hospital park, we head towards Fehér-kő, considered the birthplace of the medicinal water, along the S▲ marked Kossuth street. Locals long called the spring near Parádfürdő “Salt Water,” which Ferenc Markhóth first examined in 1763, proving it contained alum. Henrik Fazola, the father of iron production in Bükk, found silver- and copper-containing rocks near the spring, and later mining began there. In 1770, alum was also produced and later distilled to create raw materials for medical and leather tanning purposes. From the late 18th century, alum was used for bathing, which eventually became the only use after the end of mining. Currently, the hospital treats patients with gynecological problems or exhaustion using the local alum.

Behind the hospital building, the S▲ trail turns into an oak forest, where the neglected lower alum pond can be seen. The information board still shows pictures of the pre-World War conditions, and along the path, there are some forestry educational boards where we can learn about the local forest wildlife, plant communities, and logging methods. In the shallow valley surrounded by oak forest, we climb to the empty basin of the upper lake, where mining shafts once opened; their spoil heaps are still visible on the steep hillside. Behind the basin, near the openings of the shafts, we ascend the slope and reach the ridge.

Above the bend of the winding path on the ridge, a lookout tower rises above the oak canopy. It is worth climbing the spiral staircase of the Fehér-kő Lookout, as from its viewing platform there is a full panoramic view of the surrounding mountains with the steep northern Kékes massif at the center. The rolling range of Mátra mountain ridge is partly blocked eastward by the nearby Hegyes mountain, but to the west, we can follow the main ridge of the mountain reaching up to the Galya-tető peak. Around us stretch the forested ridges of the Mátralába overlapping like steps, while in the distance, the Bükk massif and the mountains of the Karancs-Medves region are visible.

On the ridge, we continue descending on the Z▲ trail, then walk through an oak forest on the Z trail, leaving behind the noise of the holiday village and bypassing the Lahóca hill along the Baláta-patak valley. The volcano’s depths still hold valuable mineral wealth even more significant than before. The ore veins discovered in the 20th century with copper ore and precious metals penetrated the neighboring hills, but due to the costly mining of the deep shafts, mining was eventually ceased.

Between Parádfürdő and Mátraderecske, at the foot of the Lahóca hill

Between Recsk and Parádfürdő, the last steeper rise of Mátralába forms a mountain made of volcanic rocks. This Tertiary andesite massif was the center of copper production in modern Hungary. The tunnels networked throughout the entire mountain reaching nearly a kilometer deep. The ore contained not only copper but incidentally gold as well. At the end of the 19th century, about 20 tons of copper were produced annually, accompanied by about half a quintal of silver and a few kilograms of gold. With the boom of copper mining overseas, the mining became unprofitable and the mines were finally closed. Today, we can only see the abandoned roads, mine entrances, and the ghostly ruins of the facilities.

The hiking trail follows the asphalt road along the Baláta-patak. Crossing the marshy valley of the stream, we can see that beavers have taken possession of the nearly undisturbed environment, as evidenced by bite marks on the willow trees along the stream bank. At a meadow, we turn off from the asphalt and ascend the hilltop, turning east towards Mátraderecske. On the high plateau, in 2023, a shelter with a viewing platform was built to enhance the panorama. We get a good view of the Mátra: the stratovolcano block towering in Galya-tető spreads imposingly on the western horizon, while Kékes forms a longitudinal ridge behind the northern forelands of Mátra. In the east, the slender tower remains of Kanázsvár stand out vividly against the sky at the village border.

Walking across the grassy meadow of the hilltop, crossing the Baláta-patak, we reach the holiday village of Mátraderecske, the Tóvölgy district, where we descend between cozy weekend houses into the Balla-patak valley between the brick factory and the former Kincses thermal bath. Unfortunately, the water of the well serving the thermal water of the bath has silted up, so the beach has been closed for years, but the tile factory standing for more than a century still produces tiles from the raw material of the neighboring clay pit.

After crossing the railway, on the other side of the valley, we take a detour on the ZL trail leading to the Büdös Well on the outskirts of the village and the neighboring Kanázsvár. It is worth taking this few hundred meters through the otherwise neglected village part because at its end under a covered wooden construction springs the Büdös Well’s truly unpleasant smelling water. It has a high sulfate content and emits a sulfurous rotten egg smell, but drinking the natural water of the csevicekút is recommended for stomach ailments. (A bottling plant was also built for the nearby Parád Sasvár’s csevice, which has long been sold as water from Parádfürdő. Another locally used medicinal water is the alum water of Parádfürdő, which is only found in the hospital specialized for it. There is also a carbon dioxide mineral water spring in Recsk on the bank of the Csevice Stream behind the train station.)

Behind the springhouse, an educational board tells about the nearby Kanázsvár, which can be reached on a dirt road continuing from the street with some climbing. The castle observed from the neighboring hill was probably built in the Árpád era by the Aba clan ruling the area. It did not play a major role in fortification and presumably functioned as an advanced guard bastion for Sirok. From the hardly accessible height, there is an excellent view of the valley below and the northeastern side of the Mátra.

Beyond Mátraderecske, where the herd and silence dwell

We cross the village on the Z trail, bypassing the center near the cemetery. If we run out of energy, this is the best place to interrupt the hike, as Recsk is only a few minutes away by bus, and in the center of Mátraderecske, there is a shop and a restaurant.

At the winding edge of the village, a pink-painted, multi-story building draws attention, and the information board next to the Z trail introduces the location, considered a curiosity in Hungary. Beneath the building is the only natural carbon dioxide gas emission in our country, technically called a mofetta. In the treatment built in the 1990s with a carbon dioxide sitting bath well known in Italy, Iceland, and even the Hargita, cardiovascular and rheumatic diseases are treated. The carbon dioxide, heavier than air, invisibly fills the wooden sitting pool where patients take a 5-10 minute treatment. Besides the stimulating effect of the gas, the prescribed small amount of accompanying radon gas also has beneficial effects.

After the mofetta treatment building, we cross the ridge above the village and see the spacious hilly area dotted with pastures stretching all the way to the neighboring Bükk and Vajdavár region. The settlements are confined to the stream valleys here, making the gently rolling hills seem almost uninhabited and untouched. At the edge of the meadow, we find a covered resting place fenced with an electric fence without current, where we can learn more about the Palóc people and local livestock farming during a well-deserved rest.

Escorted by the gaze of the herds populating the surrounding pastures, we descend into the Kürti-patak valley, which is already the Parád-Tarna, thus the watershed of Tarna and Tisza. We cross a bridge to the bulldozer road on the opposite bank, which leads along forests and marshy meadows to the road of Mátraderecske and Recsk, connecting to the Z↺ trail (keeping a straight direction). We arrive at the notorious village of the forced labor camp beside the decaying Barkóczy castle. The castle built at the end of the 19th century by Baron Barkóczy housed the ÁVH in the early 1950s; more about the acts committed on site can be learned at the forced labor camp exhibition located among the nearby hills.

Under the soaring tower of the Saint Stephen King church, we arrive in the center of Recsk, at the main road between Sirok and Parádfürdő, where bus transport and hospitality are also available, allowing us to pleasantly conclude our hike.