Geotour around the Bér andesite flow

Itinerary

• Leave Bér on the Z+ trail.
• At the junction, turn left on the pasture onto the Z trail heading towards the mountain.
• On the right branch of the Z↺ trail, climb towards the andesite wall, passing by the stone sea.
• Turning back from the wall, head right on the Z▲ trail.
• After a very short walk, turn right onto an unmarked path, and hike out to the panoramic peak of Nagy-hegy.
• Returning below the peak, descend back to the stone repository on the Z▲ trail, from where the route leads back to the village (Z, then Z+ trail).

Detailed description of the route

From Bér to the base of the hills

In the center of Bér, there used to be a pub and a shop, today a teahouse can be found a little further away (on Petőfi Street). We cross the stream next to the bus stop at the main square, then enter a narrow street heading towards the forest on the Z+ trail. Ascending along the stream for a long stretch, we reach a wide clearing, and from the dirt road climbing higher and higher, more and more of the rolling hilly landscape unfolds.

Behind the surrounding wooded hills appears the forested side of Bercel Hill, and soon the twin peaks of Szanda also emerge. At a wider spot, turn left onto the Z trail, and set off on the dirt road winding up the hillside. After open terrain, we climb increasingly steeply in what looks like dense dark forest until we sharply turn right at a point.

A small world sensation deep in the forest

Soon we reach the modern concrete building of the Stone Repository. At this exhibition site of two units, we can observe twelve local rock types, and plaques mounted on the walls tell about the volcanic processes related to them and the surrounding mountains. In the increasingly rocky mountainside, the gray shade of the bent andesite wall emerges from behind dense vegetation. Moving closer, from a rocky-debris slope, we can admire this geological rarity: the bent-shaped, column-separated andesite slide is a 15-million-year-old vein, that is, a fissure volcano revealed by humans. The magma rock that reached near the surface flowed into cracks and fissures of the surrounding rocks, solidified there, and thanks to the destructive forces and mining, came to the surface. Columnar separation is not typical for andesite; it is more characteristic in basalt areas, for example on the side of nearby Somoskő Castle or in the Balaton Uplands. As the cooling magma solidified, it shrank, cracked, and finally divided into bundles along the cracks in the form visible today – its bent shape is due to the magma flowing into a similarly shaped "shell" before solidifying. Its bent shape is unique in Europe, and worldwide only a few similar appearances have been revealed.

Across the stone sea to the panorama

Continuing eastward, we must aim for the bright, sunlit area behind the trees, without necessarily relying on the trail markers. A few steps later, we arrive at the edge of a real stone sea: the rock mass exposed on the surface cracked into pieces slowly due to Ice Age frost and temperature fluctuations and accumulated on the slope. Evidence that the stone sea is still moving today is that vegetation does not cover its surface, as it continues to crumble and slowly creeps down the slope in heaps. From the upper edge of the stone sea, we face the first view: in the middle of the mosaic-like Cserhát landscape rises the twin cone of Szanda.

From the edge of the stone sea, we climb up the mountainside through dense brush on an unmarked path. We cover short distances between spots, so within minutes we reach the top of the andesite columns located on the side of the Nagy-hegy in Bér, just over 400 meters in height. The unfolding panorama indulges us with the full beauty of the Nógrád landscape: the two neighboring volcanic mountain ranges, Börzsöny and Mátra, frame the wide view. From Mátra, due to its proximity, the ridge of Muzsla is clearly visible, and in the background, with its radio tower, the Kékes also stretches out. To the left, the twin peak of Szanda rises above the surrounding basins, and on its ridge, we can spot the remains of the castle wall. Opposite, the hills of Buják wave, including Sas-bér, known for its lookout tower. We can spot the buildings of Bér and Virágospuszta, and on clear days, the elephant-shaped massif of Karancs appears in the north. The Cserhát, characterized by steep-sided hills, rich in basins and poor in villages, offers one of the most beautiful panoramas opening onto a rolling landscape.

Back to the base of the mountain

We can return to the village via the already covered route rich in geological sights, or we can close the loop by following the worn trail in the dense bush on an unmarked path. Unfortunately, the hiking trail network currently does not support the circular route; therefore, the simplest way back to the village is the same one we took uphill.