Kóspallag circular tour with historical adventures

Itinerary

• From the bus stop we head southeast following the P trail to the Toronyalja fishing lake.
• On the southwestern side of the lake, we take a short detour on the PL trail to the Pusztatorony (Bibervár).
• From the ruins, we return to the P trail and continue to the right (back the way we came).
• Returning to the forest, we continue southeast on the P+ trail.
• At the wildlife fence gate, we go southwest continuing on the Z trail.
• At the Fehér-forrás group we turn right following the Z● trail.
• From the springs, we return on the P trail towards the Törökmező tourist house.
• Behind the tourist house we join the K trail and follow it all the way to Kóspallag.

Detailed tour

From Kóspallag to Boglya-kő

Kóspallag is the youngest village in Börzsöny; its inhabitants were settled by Count Antal Grassalkovich in the 18th century on a sheep pasture. The name refers to its origin, derived from the words for ram and fallow. The first residents were mostly German settlers sustained by forestry and agriculture until World War II. Kóspallag was known for its pipe tobacco.

From the bus stop, we head southeast on the P trail. Soon we reach a beautifully renovated stone cross erected in 1807. This was the cemetery of the military hospital of the Márianosztra monastery during the Napoleonic wars. We turn left, and after leaving the village, soon reach the Kis-Hanta creek in a hornbeam forest patch. We have to wade through the creek bed between meadows arranged consecutively to get to the other side. The creek's name recalls the former settlement of Hanta south of Kóspallag, whose population became extinct by the mid-13th century.

The trail bends southwest at Boglya-kő. On the hill, we find a uniquely shaped formation reminiscent of a haystack, made of coarse breccia formed by the stronger cementation of the hard andesite bedrock. This sediment was created from glowing clouds, blocks, and ash flows collapsing from Miocene volcano lava domes. Towards the end of volcanism, high silica-containing hydrothermal solutions permeated the rock, making it even harder and more resistant. The rock formation was most prominently shaped by freeze-thaw weathering during the ice ages, carved out from the surrounding softer layers. These forms were aided by the stream valley at the mountain's base, which quickly carried away the debris formed this way.

The Bibervár and Szent Gál land

Along the creek bank, musk willow trees indicate formerly colder and wetter conditions. They have mostly been replaced by various willow species. Shrubby grasslands slightly farther from the creek testify to formerly more extensive livestock farming than today. On the widening path, we soon reach the Toronyalja fishing lake. We walk around the standing water and then take a brief detour on the southwestern side along the PL trail to Pusztatorony.

The construction time and circumstances of the Pusztatorony or Bibervár, not mentioned in documents, are unknown. It appears on a 1757 manuscript map as Biber castle, but its naming origin is also unclear. The ruin was probably a fortified watchtower built likely at the end of the 12th century based on pottery shards found. Its destruction is dated around the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries during the battles of Csák Máté and Charles Robert. The castle remains in a local legend. According to the story, giants lived in the tower with such enormous appetites they could even eat an ox. One day the old giant named Mnyi's daughter spotted a plowing man. Since she had never seen a mortal before, she happily took him home in her apron to devour him. When her father saw this, he became furiously angry and immediately took the peasant, on horseback and cart, back to the field because people’s work sustained them.

From the ruins, we return to the P trail. After a forest patch and a road cut, we turn southeast onto the P+ trail. We walk beside a high game fence until we reach an oak without acorns by the gate, where we already see the next Z trail to follow. Ipolyerdő Zrt. has erected a sign here showing the forest renewal process. It is worth reading how the original homogeneous tree groups evolve over about 50-150 years to established forest structures composed of multiple ages and layers, forming mixed forests. Heading southeast, we reach the Szent Gál land, hiding Celtic settlement traces, from where, in clear weather, there is a beautiful view of the hills around Márianosztra.

On the way to Törökmező

We continue south along the edge of the asphalt strip, then cross the road after 300 m and enter the forest on a trail running more or less parallel to the Törökmező main road. Later, we pass through shrubby grasslands with sloe and hawthorn patches, then arriving in another forest, we take a short detour on the Z● trail from the large beech tree to the Fehér spring group. Returning to the P trail, we continue toward Törökmező, where an adventure and animal park await us.

The name Törökmező comes from the Turkish troops camping here between 1684 and 1685. On September 12, 1683, during the battle known as the Battle of Kahlenberg, Polish, Bavarian, Saxon, and Imperial troops led by Jan Sobieski and Charles of Lorraine defeated the Turks besieging Vienna under Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa. The resulting counterattack freed Esztergom from Turkish rule among others. On October 7 near Párkány, strong Turkish troops caused losses to the Poles far ahead of the Austrian army. The combined relief army arriving the next day numbered 28,000 soldiers, prompting the Turks to retreat to the Danube's right bank. After destroying their pontoon bridge, they lost Párkány. This was followed by the siege of Esztergom, when Ibrahim Pasha surrendered the castle, freeing Esztergom from 130 years of Turkish occupation. The surviving Turks, since their escape routes along the Danube's right bank to the south and west were cut off, retreated to Törökmező. Because of Austria's resistance, allied forces' unification was delayed, preventing Hungary's liberation—thus the weakened Turkish army could camp without war for another two years at Törökmező.

Behind the tourist house built in 1938-39 by Hitelbank tourists, we join the K trail, descending into the Malom Valley, passing through oak forests to the Békás meadow, offering a nice view of the High Börzsöny. After the meadow, we circle around a field and return to the forest between two old turkey oaks. Reaching the asphalt road, we continue north on it. At the Kóspallag Gate rest area, we continue northwest on a wide gravel road, then turn east on the trail, returning to Kóspallag.