Mátrakeresztes detour

Itinerary:

• In Mátrakeresztes, we start on the S trail along the side streets of Kékesi Road, the second half of which is unmarked after the creek bridge.

• At the end of Kékesi Road, we join the S trail again and climb out of the village to the Keresztesi Saddle.

• At Keresztesi Saddle, turning right, we continue hiking on the Z+ trail.

• In the saddle between Péterke Hill and Hidegkút Hill, turning left onto the S trail, we make a detour to the Hidegkúti Tourist House and the spring, then return the same way.

• Continuing left on the Z+ trail, we hike to the saddle between Nyikom and Vörös-kő-bérc.

• Here we turn right onto the P trail and walk to the Mocsár-bükk junction.

• From the crossroads, we start back towards Mátrakeresztes on the P+ signs.

• On the right branch marked P▲, we visit the Upper Waterfall, then return to the P+ path.

• Soon, on the left, the detour of the PΩ sign leads to the Zsivány Cave, and we return the same way before continuing along the P+ signs.

• The Lower Waterfall can be seen by turning left onto a short, unmarked path.

• Finally, we walk down to Mátrakeresztes on the P+ trail.

Detailed description of the hike:

Mátrakeresztes, the former glassworks settlement

Mátrakeresztes clings to the bottom of the narrow valley of the Kövicses Creek, which is faithfully reflected in the village layout if you walk along its main street by the stream. The houses are long and narrow, closely lined up, with courtyards only between them, and the street running directly in front of their walls. However, the idyllic valley location also holds dangers: in 2005, the flash flood of the tributary Csörgő Creek washed away the settlement. A large amount of rain fell in a short time, rushing down the hillsides, swelling the creek into a raging river that swept through the valley, leaving a wreckage behind. Locals believe that the extent of the disaster was increased by the clear-cutting of the surrounding hillsides, as there was insufficient vegetation on the bare slopes to retain some of the sudden precipitation. The frequency of extreme floods may be linked to climate change as since the turn of the millennium, four such floods have occurred, where experts previously estimated their odds statistically to occur once every 50-100 years.

Unlike today, in the Middle Ages the entire Mátra was covered by dense, continuous forests. On this basis, glassworks were established already under our Árpád-era kings. One of Central Europe's earliest smelters was set up near Pásztó, and products from the Bodony glass mill were used in the windows of the Eger castle as late as the end of the 15th century. The most intense period of glassmaking which spanned several eras was in the 18th century, when several glassworks were established in the inner parts of the Mátra by Slovak settlers. From the Middle Ages onward, we know of a total of 16 glass smelters in the mountain range. The word 'huta' is of German origin, meaning smelting furnace.

The large demand for wood in the operations began to break apart and consume the Mátra’s vast forests. Not only did the furnaces require large quantities of fuel wood, but also the process needed ash resin (szalajka) production. An average domestic forest glass manufacturing site had an annual ash resin demand of about 4 tons, requiring about 40 tons of wood to be cut down. This caused the forests around the sites to be devastated within a few decades.

During the 19th century, these glassworks shut down, but glassmaking and polishing did not cease in the Mátra: an internationally renowned glass factory was established in Parádsasvár, and smaller businesses continue to preserve and carry forward the centuries-old traditions.

A local peculiarity of the 2005 flood was that wooden boards lay scattered all over the village along the creek banks. Mátrakeresztes has a centuries-old tradition of spoon carving, which is still practiced by some locals today. The flood spread the raw carved wooden boards, the raw materials. The village, now belonging to Pásztó, was formerly called Alsóhuta and was settled by Slovaks in the mid-18th century. Initially, a glassmaking site operated in the valley, which was supplied with wood by the forest. A description from 1837 mentions: "Near Alsóhuta, 200 inhabitants of Hungarian Catholic and Lutheran faith live, bordered by hilly valleys, with a workshop making beautiful glass."

After the glassmaking era ended, logging, wood transport, and charcoal burning became the main livelihood, along with many seasonal jobs in the Great Plain. The local glassworks loggers were well-known and were gladly hired by forest owners from distant regions of the country as well.

Through Keresztesi Saddle to Tót-hegyes

On the S trail along Kékesi Road, we walk among tidy, traditionally built houses whitewashed with lime. After a crucifix, we cross the Tó-réti Creek bridge and walk 400 meters on an unmarked section. At the end of the street, we cross Kövecses Creek, then return to the S trails along the upper Mátra road. Shortly after, turning right, we enter the forest and gently ascend along the Kis-Völgyi Creek, where pine forest appears on the right side and clear-cut areas on the left. The bare slopes are a defining sight in the first part of our hike, and though initially not pleasing to the eye, we soon appreciate the views as we reach their upper edges. Looking back, we begin to befriend the distant steep silhouette of Nyikom and the areas where forests have been removed.

Along the pasture of overhead power lines, past white-trunked birch trees, we arrive at the marshy Kaszala Meadow from the clay soil. At the upper end of the open area, we reach Keresztesi Saddle, stepping onto the Mátra watershed ridge. At the edge of the forest, a metal crucifix stands marking a historically important site: for centuries, the road crossing here connected the interior of the Mátra with the edge of the Great Plain. Turning right under the power line, we join the Z+ trail and climb moderately steeply along the ridge. We walk along edges of clear-cut areas as the landscape increasingly opens up. Behind the valleys on the other side, Upper Mátra ridges are green, and we can spot the towers of Fallóskút and Bagolyirtás among trees. Above Kövicses Creek, there is a view out of the mountain range; between Óvár and Nyikom narrows, the rolling hills of Cserhát and the valley of the Zagyva become visible.

The cleared forest suddenly changes to dense pine forest. Here the wind plays differently, and in the fragrance-filled rustle of pine resin, we hardly notice that we have climbed well above 700 meters. Absorbing the pine experience, we enter beech woodland and immerse ourselves in the typical atmosphere of the broad ridges of upper Mátra. Under aged beeches and among mossy rock piles, we pass the pine-covered summit of Tót-hegyes.

At a fork, following the Z▲ signs, we can make a short detour to Tót-hegyes. Dense andesite rock piles covering the forest floor completely cover the mountain side. This wild stone carpet formed like a lava flow and was fractured by the ice age frost effects. The forested summit offers a view only during leafless periods. If we look up Mátra’s 1930 hiking guide, we learn what panorama the place offered in the past: "As Mátra’s main ridge juts out far, it forms a prominent peak, an excellent viewpoint from which a full panoramic view of the Western and Central Mátra’s every ridge and peak can be enjoyed, and behind them, the distant borders toward the Tatras, Bükk, and Buda-Pilis mountains open up."

Scenic ridge walk below Nyikom

From the signpost at the fork, we continue along the watershed ridge on the Z+ trail through old forest. Streams rush toward Zagyva on the right and Tarnába on the left; the two rivers eventually join in the flatlands of Jászság. We cut through mixed forest and reach the edge of a clear-cut area. In the absence of forest, the entire Upper Mátra rises before us: we see the towers of Galyatető, Fallóskút and Bagolyirtás summits, and with binoculars, we can spot the Ágasvári Tourist House.

We arrive at the next clear-cut area along mossy rock fields where a wildlife watch stands at the forest corner; climbing up, we can look around in the wonderful mountain landscape. As the tourist path clings next to the clear-cut slope, to the northeast the Kékes massif appears. The ski slope cuts a corridor through the forest. We step onto a forest logging road, from which the trail branches off after a few meters, and we cross a pleasant path over Péterke Hill, admiring two imposing old hollow beeches.

The trail ends in a junction of wood hauling roads, from which a connecting S trail leads left in a short detour to Hidegkúti Tourist House. Along the winding road, a spring trickles. Lower down, beyond a metal barrier, we find the accommodation on the side of a wide meadow. The group of houses with whitewashed walls, formerly a forester’s lodge and ranger’s residence, has been functioning as a key lodge for some time. At the clearing in front of the houses there is a developed resting place to sit a while, and it is also worth looking around under the fruit trees for freshly fallen juicy delicacies.

We climb back to the ridge-following trail and turn left. From a bend in the Z+ hiking trail, the peak of Muzsla is visible, but the view does not open up, as we start climbing to the right. Former pasture groves toward Mátrakeresztes, the Great Meadows break the density of the forest. The locals used these pastures to drive their animals to graze rich grass for the villagers' supply. In the pleasant section that heats up in summer, a game protection steel net accompanies us; after a few steps, we reach a grassy clearing with ears of grain. The name Szalajkás Hill preserves the name of ash resin (szalajka) needed for glassmaking, as the glassworks operating in the valley were supplied with wood by that increasingly higher part of the slope over time. Where the forest was cut down, grazing began. It is worth walking out along the wheel tracks crossing the flat meadow because it offers a great view of the Ágasvár surroundings opposite. The Csörgő Creek valley turns out right in front from the mountain forest, winding out carefully with the lava-capped summits of Óvár and Ágasvár shooting up.

We descend into a saddle, finally climbing up the side of Vörös-kő-bérc, then reaching the pass between the hill and Nyikom. If we turn left from here, we can take the unmarked route to the easily accessible peak from the nearby Nyikom Saddle. From its lookout, we can lift our gaze from the Buda Hills to the mountains of Felvidék, and in the other direction, we see the inner areas of the Mátra. The private forest owner keeps the andesite tower open as a shelter, so it is even possible to spend a night on the summit—of course, respecting the written and unwritten rules of mountain shelters.

Waterfalls and outlaw cave above Mátrakeresztes

From the Vörös-kő-bérc saddle, we start the easiest, downhill section of our hike to the right on the P trail. We pass through dark pine forest by the pond fed by the Nyikom spring, which the well water-retaining clay rocks prevent from seeping away in the small depression. Crossing another clear-cut area, we traverse sideways through thorny beech forest and eventually come to the left branch of the P+ trail. The path crosses the slowly reforesting Erdész Meadow grove. On the semi-open summit stands a geodetic concrete pillar, from which we get views to the Cserhát and Zagyva valley. Crossing the meadow partly covered by prickly brush, the wild trail forces a steep descent.

The mountain clearing invites us to sit, as the path slopes down turning east, from which the opposite Óvár and Ágasvár areas open up close, along with the middle section of the Mátra ridge. Narrow, deep valleys carved into the slopes currently hide Mátrakeresztes from our sight. At the foot of the final, steep, small-pebble covered slope, we reach a branch where we make a right detour to the Upper Waterfall, following the P▲ signs along the rocky creek bed. The narrow path ends in a dark stone amphitheater. The hard lava rock was carved by erosion as it wore down the softer surrounding rock. The lava breccia arch of Lyukas-kő was formed by earlier creek erosion; in its shadow, the current creek tumbles down in a small cascade into the main valley. The tufas spread as debris and the andesite bands laid as lava separate the operational phases of the Mátra: alternating explosive and lava flow periods built the layered volcanic formation. Let’s return to the branch!

Soon below to the left, the PΩ sign invites us, leading to the Zsivány Cave. Caves are rare shelters in volcanic mountain ranges, usually not formed by dripping water like in karst areas. The essence of this small fissure formation is that steam and gases were released from the bedrock due to the heat of the former lava flow, which merged into larger gas bubbles that created cavities in the lava body. Later, frost effects and erosion opened the cave and provided shelter to the mountain bandits, including the famous Márton Vidróczky. This rocky hideout was especially advantageous because helpful villagers were nearby.

Continuing on the P+ trail, shortly to the right on a short, unmarked path we can visit another waterfall, a more robust lower counterpart of the previously seen Upper Waterfall. The volcanic past of Mátra comes alive: on the softer reddish tuff rock, lava from a volcanic eruption millions of years ago flowed, and the creek tumbles down a tiny waterfall on the edge of the resistant lava bed.

Returning to the hiking trail, we steadily descend along a wide forestry road. After one last big bend, we descend to the creek bridge and arrive at the center of Mátrakeresztes through the inn’s garden.