In the oak forests of Abaúji-Hegyalja

Itinerary:

• The first 150 m are covered on Rákóczi Street towards the village center, from where we follow the marked hiking trail .
• From Tállya we follow the P marking beyond the Galambos saddle.
• We turn right onto the Z marking, on which we visit the Hideg spring.
• From the Hideg spring we head back on the Z marking until the first junction.
• We turn right onto the P● marking, which we follow northwards.
• The marking disappears, and we continue on an unmarked path to the Dalosok spring.
• From the Dalosok spring we proceed slightly uphill on a wide, gravel unmarked bulldozer road in a north-northwest direction until the Z marking joins in.
• Following the Z marking to the right, through Galambász, we arrive at Abaújszántó.

Detailed description of the hike:

From Tállya to the Galambos saddle

We start our hike from the market square between the Catholic and Reformed churches in the center of Tállya. Due to the village's importance in wine production, trade along the Hernád valley, and administrative roles, it has played a significant role in the life of Hegyalja for centuries. The ruins of its once hardly visible castle stood to the east on Óvár Hill since the Árpád era. Tállya itself was protected by stone walls in the Middle Ages, and entry into the village was possible only through several gates. Many historic buildings remain as evidence of its former wealth, such as the Winemaker’s House, the Rákóczi manor, the Balogh manor, and the Mailloth castle; additionally, there are many richly decorated bourgeois houses along the main street.

From the right fork of the Y intersection opposite the market square, we turn onto the street leading out of the village. We follow the P marking between wine tastings and old houses until we reach the vineyards surrounding the village. From the edge of the village, the duality of Tállya is clearly visible: the slopes covered with vineyards contrast with the barren, rain-eroded spoil heaps of the quarry. In the 20th century, the Kopasz Hill above the village was mined for building stone. After the regime change, production was halted for a time but reopened in the 2000s due to new construction activities. The stone extracted from the quarry is transported via a several-kilometer-long conveyor belt to the railway line running on the far side of the village.

Crossing through the vineyards, we also cross the conveyor belt within about a kilometer, after which a completely different world unfolds. On the quarry's industrial road, we skirt over hills built of fine debris and mud, while the harsh landscape scars become increasingly distinct. We overlook the multi-leveled quarry, the mountain hollowed out by the busy mining machines, and the increasingly deeper layers of rusty gray andesite. The tens of millions of years old andesite flows build up the terrain here in great thickness, so the solid volcanic rock has been used for road bases and construction for a hundred years.

As the path ascends towards the mountain interior, we bypass a spoil canal created at the edge of the mining area. After a kilometer, at the end of the shrub-covered mining area’s surrounding mounds, beside an underground cable, we leave the disturbed area behind. As the cable disappears underground, so does the trace of human destruction. A significant change occurs as we enter the ancient atmosphere of the Tokaj Mountains among old oaks thickly covered with moss and lichen. After a short descent, reaching the far side of a rolled gully at the valley bottom, we continue to climb the mountain. The P marking runs on an abandoned and heavily overgrown forest road along the ditch's edge. The sparse oak forest radiates primordial peace following the bustle of mining machines.

The barely visible path crosses to the far side of the gully for a few hundred meters, but here the marking leaves the valley, turning right on the slope furrowed by old roads. The hiking trail runs in the outermost, rightmost groove, crossing the forestry bulldozer road and soon reaching the Galambos saddle.

At the central terrain of the mountain section

Among old, knotted oaks spotted with moss and lichen, we enter the center of the southern part of the Tokaj Mountains inside the mossy-wooded forest of Galambos saddle. The P marking merges into the bulldozer road coming from Csonkás Hill, then continues on a comfortably descending gravel road to the right. Soon, after a barrier, we reach a four-way junction, where following the sign towards Hideg spring, we turn right onto the Z marking following an exploratory trail. Shortly after leaving the crossing, the P● marking splits off to the left, accompanying the rest of our route to the Dalosok spring. For now, however, we visit the (Tállya) Hideg spring, which is a short, scarcely one-kilometer detour. At the site, we find an old forester’s lodge, a riding hall, a meadow lined by old oaks, and a small lake fed by water seeping from an andesite-contained spring. We can rest and snack at the shady benches near the trickling water, about halfway to our destination.

Whether we took the Hideg spring detour or turned immediately onto the P● marking after the four-way junction, the remainder of the route leads through dense oak forest on a forestry road. The game-rich oak forests are also highly valued by hunters, so several hunting lodges are hidden in the area. At a raised hide, we turn right onto the uphill road, then, barely noticeable, the path descends into Hideg Valley (right) beneath two old cherry trees at the edge of a pine forest.

At the barely walked valley bottom overgrown with bushes and filled with rotting trees, we follow a now scarcely detectable, nature-blended cart road. Initially, the P● marking indicates the direction, then we continue on an unmarked route to Dalosok spring, at a curve of the maintained forestry road. A covered shelter offers relative comfort, and near the flowing spring and benches, we have a chance for a comfortable, shady rest.

From here, we follow an unmarked bulldozer road leading uphill to the left in a north-northwestern direction. We cut through a long, oak-covered slope comfortably and effectively. After enclosed forests so far, finally, from the road, a view opens onto the central part of the mountain range: opposite us dominate the massive, rounded blocks of Óvár and Szokolya – on the far side of the mountains lies the hidden basin of Erdőbénye. Here also stretch the barely visible Árpád-era ramparts.

About 2 kilometers later, the bulldozer road is crossed by the Z marking, where we also turn right, descending into the Galambász ditch, skirting a small ridge between young forest and old oak forest. Exiting the idyllic, wooded groves, on the far side of the neatly maintained, English park-like Galambász clearing, we find the spring and forester’s lodge of the same name. If we were unable to get water at the previously visited springs, the Galambász spring reliably provides pure fissure water. At the bottom of the meadow, we cross a flattening ditch and continue around the Csonkás block slowly but persistently, following the forestry road through a pleasant oak grove.

Arrival in Abaújszántó at the Csipkés slope

Leaving the Galambász ditch, after nearly a kilometer we cross to the western side of the ridge, where the contiguous oak forests seen so far alternate with shrubby meadows and groves. It is worth leaving the forest road behind a few meters and looking out to the edge of the meadow, as there is a beautiful view over the Hernád valley and the western edge of the mountain range from the Sátor Hill in Abaújszántó to the Borsó Hill above Gönc. In good weather, we can also spot the smoke of the Košice ironworks to the north, in front of the Carpathian ranges, specifically the peaks of the Kojsó mountains in the distance.

A little lower, we reach a shrubby pasture where we need to proceed attentively because at a larger hawthorn bush the Z marking barely perceptibly turns off the sideways path and heads towards Abaújszántó on a descending road to the west. On the gently sloping descent, we say farewell to the silent giants, the forested ridge with rounded volcano tops, and proceed through a mixed acacia-oak forest in Kis-erdő to Cekeháza, on the outskirts of Abaújszántó. At an almost invisible fork, the path turns left from the wide cart road onto a little-used trail, but both routes guide us to the Patay castle, which once had better days and is currently under renovation.

Beside the ruined, eerie castle building, we pass the park of old chestnuts, then reach a neglected, abandoned part of town. From here, the Z marking clearly leads to Abaújszántó – after the cemetery turning right and following the valley of the creek, we soon arrive at the district center. On the left along the main street, we find the town center together with the renewed market square and the evangelical church.