High Mátra atmospheres

Itinerary

• Starting in Mátraszentimre through the center on the Z trail.
• On the main street of Mátraszentistván, turn right onto the K trail.
• In the upper part of Mátraszentlászló, turn right onto the K+ trail.
• At the Church of the Three Villages, take another right turn onto an unmarked path for an out-and-back detour (old K▲ signs can still be seen here and there up to the parking lot).
• From the asphalt, turn left, crossing through the parking lot to the water reservoir, and climb up to the tops of the ski slopes along the unmarked path.
• From the top of the Ski Park return to the K+ trail and head right on it.
• The K+ signs will lead back to Mátraszentimre, the starting point.

Detailed description of the route

The discovered village

Mátraszentimre, like the other high Mátra villages, was brought to life by Slovak settlers who moved up from the valleys when five families relocated from Felsőhuta (Mátraszentistván) in 1900 and founded Ötházhuta. In these isolated small villages, even at the beginning of the 20th century, visitors from afar were so rare that contemporary travel writers reported the locals would gather and celebrate their arrival with musical festivities. Then, after the Treaty of Trianon, the Mátra, previously only modestly attractive, suddenly gained value due to its proximity to the capital, altitude, vast forests and air quality, which made it stand out from domestic tourism offerings. Developments began, and after World War II, company resorts were built rapidly one after another. After a longer decline, nowadays increasingly more restaurants, services, and a wider range of accommodations indicate the revival of tourism in the High Mátra.

Under forests, between villages

From the village, head north along the main street (Z trail). On the now depopulated settlement from World War II, the church acquired two adobe houses; in 1980, a Roman Catholic church was built on the site of one of these in the style of mountain pastures (from dark andesite blocks characteristic to the Mátra) which can be seen in the main square. Turn left; you can also enter the neat Slovak folk house from the street. Before the Narád Hotel, the largest accommodation in the area, with its hillside and somewhat out-of-place complex, we enter the forest. Descending down a washed-out path through young woods into the valley of the Nárád stream, where we cross a ford formed by rounded andesite blocks.

Beeches blend with hornbeam and oak as we climb the mountainside on a rocky soil path. A wild, characteristic Mátra forest crowns above us, and on the ground, patches of gray andesite carpet spread. At Rubanya meadow, the vegetation opens up a bit - the species-rich clearing is maintained by mowing.

At the country’s first ski park

We reach the Ski Park lifts and the grassy corridors of the slopes surrounded by skinny, young trees. On the left, on the inner side of the Mátra ridge, the houses of Mátraszentistván already line up. The former pastures were first made suitable for skiing in the '60s by the sports club of the Gagarin Heat Power Plant (now Mátrai Power Plant) for its own workers. These later fell into ruin, became overgrown, and scrub began to take over. The municipality had no resources for necessary investments, but a family business started construction in 2002. Since 2004, the Ski Park has enjoyed growing popularity; lifts, huts, and snow cannons ensure the success of winter seasons. The pumps of the reservoirs feeding the snow cannons draw water from surrounding streams during rainy periods, which partly returns to nature as meltwater at the end of winter. Development plans include creating new slopes, including involving the slope of Piszkés peak at 900 meters altitude, which would make skiing possible there as well.

Mátraszentistván, the former Felsőhuta—as its neighbors—received its current name only in 1938 on the 900th anniversary of King István’s death. Its Slovak inhabitants were engaged in charcoal burning in the lower valleys before relocating to the gentler terrain at the head of the valley. In the center, next to the Vidróczki Inn, turn right and walk through on the K trail to Mátraszentlászló.

Church between the villages

At the former Fiskalitáshuta, abandoned and rundown resorts mix with well-maintained plots as we approach the main street. Hospitality venues line up to the bus turnaround, where the bust of Saint László is also located. Then the K+ trail turns right. We walk out of the settlement among gardens dotted with pines. The next important stop is the Church of the Three Villages: the massive stone building consecrated in 1942, its patron saint is István; the main altar painting also depicts him. Allegedly, the three settlements could not agree on the church’s location, so finally the archbishopric of Eger placed it at an equal distance from each.

View over the Mátra

Head right on the asphalt road, from which turn left at the parking lot and reach the top of the ski slopes with a short climb. On the unmarked path, go around the small basin of the reservoir (here and there old K▲ signs can still be seen), and as you ascend, the panorama becomes more picturesque. Roofs dot the inner side of the ridge opposite the ski slopes, and behind them, far below, you can see the hilly landscape of Northern Hungary, with a clear sense of the Mátra’s prominence. Behind the Karancs mass, the mountains of the Felvidék start to appear, and in exceptionally clear weather, the High Tatras offer an alpine atmosphere view for winter skiers.

Back into the beech forest

Return to the K+ trail behind the church! Turn right and follow the asphalt road through the forest section, which you cross at one point. The path plunges into beautiful, silvery-trunked, old hornbeam forest. At the muddy spring of the Nárád stream, cross the small green densely wooded creek below, and a dense young forest joins the side of the path on one side. Looking back from a clearing, the tower of the Church of the Three Villages peeks from behind the trees. Shortly after, reach the asphalt, follow it straight back to your starting point in the center of Mátraszentimre.