Iron hammer forges then and now

Itinerary:

• We start on the Z trail heading northwest towards the Palotaszálló, then alongside the Hámori Lake, passing the Lencsés Spring up to the Lencsés Saddle.
• Turn right on the P trail.
• From Dolka Hill, descend on the P▲ trail to the Zsófia Lookout.
• From the Zsófia Lookout, we serpentinely descend on the K▲ trail to the path leading to the Szeleta Cave.
• Turn right on the KΩ trail to reach Felsőhámor, passing the Metallurgy Museum.
• Turn right on the K+ trail, touching the waterfall and the Palotaszálló, returning to the shore of Hámori Lake.
• Walk back on the already familiar Z trail to the narrow-gauge railway station.

Details about the hike:

Walk along the shore of Hámori Lake, in the Garadna valley

We start from the historic building of the Garadna narrow-gauge railway station in Lillafüred. From the wooden, covered platform we go through a tunnel under the tracks down to the level of the Palotaszálló. This romantic building constructed in the early 20th century stands guard over the valleys at the meeting point of the Szinva and Garadna streams like a real castle. Its original environment has been significantly altered: instead of wild gorge forest, it is now a landscaped and built-up area. At the confluence of the two valleys, due to the difference in level and the calcium-rich water of the streams, a tufa dam with hanging gardens was built in. The originally tumbling stream with numerous waterfalls over the tufa was diverted to the edge of the valley, and the artificially created waterfall became the largest waterfall in Hungary.

We bypass the garden of the Palotaszálló on the left along the Z trail. At the entrance to the parking lot, at the bend of the Felsőtárkány road, we cross over to the souvenir stand with a wheel, locally called the "paralyzed mouse." On the other side ledges and retaining walls direct the promenade to the shore of Hámori Lake. One might think that the water was dammed for the view, but in fact the lake’s dam was built due to the iron forges along the Szinva valley. Although a lake naturally formed here because of the tufa dams, which was used as a fish pond by the Diósgyőr Pauline monks, the current dam was built in the early 19th century to provide a steady water supply for the water-powered hammers of the iron forges. The lake was indeed used by tourists in the area, who still go boating on it today, and there used to be a bathing area on the far shore in the early 20th century where one could cool off in the fresh water of the lake.

Along the emerald water surface of Hámori Lake on the shady side, we walk on the atmospheric lakeside promenade. We pass by a boathouse and then have a beautiful view of the shimmering Palotaszálló and the water surface that stretches over a kilometer. The promenade winds between rocks in the middle of the lake, and at a resting place we cross a small brook. This brook originates from the Eszperantó spring on the plateau and can be reached with a short walk on the Garadna narrow-gauge railway path to a pleasant spring terrace. We arrive at the mouth of the Garadna stream by a few large beech trees hanging into the water. Rich aquatic life flourishes here at the meeting of the lake and alder swamp. In spring, yellow iris and marsh orchids bloom, but there is a lush aquatic world here all year round at the confluence of the lake and the swamp.

On the Lencsés side above Lillafüred and Hámori Lake

At the end of the lake, above the mouth of the Garadna stream, we cross to the other shore over a bridge on the dense swamp forest and the lakeside reed marked by the Z trail. On the other side, we climb the staircase leading to the Ómassa road, then enter the dense forest of the Lencsés side. We take the first ascent on a sloping abandoned forestry road. Above us winds a dozer road to the Dolka peak, where the old military radar station building is located. The road climbs more gently but longer and winding to the highest point of our hike. At one point, we touch the bend of the dozer road but follow the shallow valley along the stream upwards on the Z trail.

After the rocky, steep starting section, we arrive at a gentle forest clearing below the Lencsés spring, gradually reclaimed by the forest. Fire pits, benches, and tables indicate this is a popular picnic spot for the people of Miskolc. The abundant Lencsés spring originates barely a hundred meters away, its small stream cutting through the meadow with lush vegetation. Following the stream, we reach the spring where we can fill our bottles with clean, fresh karst water halfway through the elevation and distance. In the deep shade of the forest, the water springs from under a bulky concrete obelisk. In the first half of the 20th century, the Bükki springs emerging from the marshy area were often harnessed to provide easily accessible drinking water to hikers with clean outlets. This significantly influenced the landscape and community of the spring, although it protected the drinking water quality from being harmed by rooting or bathing wildlife.

Above the spring, we continue ascending on a path running through a dry valley to the nearby Lencsés Saddle. Reaching the ridge, we turn right on the P trail, which leads through young forest left after clear-cutting. Unfortunately, only remnants of the charming oak forests remain here on the ridge, and the views over the clearings created after logging are gone, so for nearly a kilometer, we take a relatively monotonous sideway on the dozer road below the Dolka ridge.

At the end of the ridge, the dozer road curves up to the hilltop where the military base building once stood. Here, signals from the Bükk plateau radar station were received and then transmitted through a wired network to the concrete fortress at the shore of Hámori Lake, where they were directed to the center for airspace surveillance of Eastern Hungary. Today, hardly any traces remain as the brick buildings were demolished after the regime change.

A historic hiking destination on the former Lillafüred trail

We leave the P trail that leads to Miskolc and Majális Park across the ridge above Hámor, and instead choose the ridge wedging towards southeast, to Lillafüred, continuing on the P▲ trail. Arriving at the highest point of our hike on a wavy path among beech and oak forests, unfortunately, the forest blocks the view. The lookout was not built on the top of the hill, but on a lower rocky outcrop where Hámori Lake is mirrored almost at our feet. We descend steeply over more than fifty meters of elevation and arrive at the Zsófia Lookout built beside a rock cliff on the other side of a clearing.

The site was designated at the end of the 19th century, and the tower was handed over to tourists in 1900. During the communist regime, the lookout was demolished and the tourist path closed, since the military-locator station’s relay building here continued to transmit radar signals detected on the Bükk plateau to a mysterious military facility standing on the shore of Hámori Lake. In the 2020s, the lookout and the tourist path leading to it were renovated and handed back to hikers according to original plans. Although the view is heavily limited by the surrounding tall mountains, the panorama around Palotaszálló is indeed impressive. We have a nice view of the castle park, the hanging garden promenade, and the forest-reflecting water of Hámori Lake. It is well perceptible how strategically the Palotaszálló was built, as if to monitor the junction of roads crossing the Bükk from its slender, pointed tower.

From the lookout, we descend on a steeper slope to the Lillafüred road on the K▲ trail. Fortunately, our predecessors carefully cut a switchback on the steepest section, so we relatively easily return on the narrow, winding path through dense old forest to the KΩ trail. Upon reaching the path leading to the Szeleta Cave, we then take the more worn, gentler road for the last couple of hundred meters to Felsőhámor.

Back to the valley of the iron hammers

At the end of the forest path, near the mouth of a widening small valley, we emerge onto the asphalt road above the village under the shade of old trees. We carefully cross the busy asphalt lane and follow it downhill for a few tens of meters. Besides regular car traffic, here speed and off-road motorcycles often ride through the mountain hairpins, sometimes causing unpleasant surprises in the bend of the main road.

Reaching the tower of the Saint Anne Chapel, we cross the barrier and descend on a serpentine path on a steep slope to arrive among the houses of Felsőhámor on Palota Street. Here is the Metallurgy Museum, worth visiting to learn about the local history, but the cool hall of the chapel or the shady streamside promenade can also offer a refreshment at the end of the hike. The tourist path leads with a short but scenic section on the K+ trail back through the Hámori hanging gardens to the lake shore, but if we still have enthusiasm, we can explore the village more. Opposite the Saint Anne Chapel, a small alley leads down to the Szinva stream shore, where a very pleasant promenade leads through the houses. Walking a few hundred meters down, at the end of the village, we can see the basin enclosed by limestone cliffs, the Puskaporos Gorge, a narrowing carved into the cliff with walls 30-40 meters high. In good weather, we can watch rock climbers practicing balancing through swirling shapes and overhangs on the limestone walls, while the gorge itself hides interesting, protected rock caves and caverns. For the very end of the hike, it is advisable to return on the streamside promenade.

Before returning to Lillafüred, at the confluence of the Garadna and Szinva streams, we cross the untamed, foaming waters, and at the gate-like entrance to the hanging gardens, we can see the Lillafüred Waterfall, the highest waterfall in Hungary. Unfortunately, the original waterfall system that formed at the confluence of the two valleys and built up the tufa dome is no longer visible. The current waterfall has been diverted into an artificial channel and moved to the edge of the tufa dome as a tourist attraction. Unfortunately, the hanging gardens cover exactly this natural route, but we can discover it with another artificial passage deep inside the mountain. Directly beneath the Palotaszálló, narrow bands of the original waterfall have turned to stone with hollow spaces and corrugations as a backdrop. Here, the tufa flows form noticeable depressions leading into the interior formed over millennia. Such a series of cave cavities was intersected by a tunnel drilled for water supply in the early 19th century, later expanded to its present size by the development of the Lillafüred resort and the Palotaszálló. This attraction, called the Anna Cave, is artificial but naturally formed and connected by passages and is definitely worth visiting at the end of the hike, like Sándor Petőfi once did.

At the edge of the hanging gardens, above the rocky gorge of the Garadna stream, we return to the dam of Hámori Lake where the circular route closes at the "paralyzed mouse." Alongside the castle park, we return on the already known Z trail to our starting point.