On the meadows of the Bükk plateau

Itinerary:

• We start from Ómassa following the K then S marks through the Vadász Valley to Csipkéskút.
• Near the Csipkéskút stud, we ascend to the plateau on the asphalt road following the S cycling mark.
• On the plateau, we can also follow the parallel Z mark to the Nagy-mező.
• From the middle of Nagy-mező, we follow the S cycling mark partly towards Szilvásvárad.
• We turn back north on the K mark from the asphalt road towards the Faktor meadow.
• From Faktor meadow, we briefly join the S mark via the S+ mark, which leads to Bánkút.
• From Bánkút, we make a detour to the Bálvány peak following the Z+ mark to the Petőfi lookout.
• From Bánkút, we descend through Száraz Valley to Ómassa on the S+ mark.

Detailed description of the hike:

On the hunters' path from Ómassa to the plateau

We start from the center of Ómassa, from the bus turning circle, following the K then S marks along the village’s only street. As the name suggests, Ómassa is a historical site for iron production in the Bükk mountains. The ironworks here were established in the 18th century by Henrik Fazola, relying mainly on Slovak loggers from Upper Hungary and German experts. The Würzburg specialist built the first blast furnace here, fueled by the Bükk plateau’s wood and powered by water-driven bellows on the Garadna stream, smelting the locally mined iron ore. This laid the foundation for iron production further down the valley, relocating later to Újmassa and then Diósgyőr, which produced the best quality and largest quantity of iron in Hungary at its time.

We begin our climb next to the neat stone church of the village, initially ascending on the village’s asphalt street, where we cover much of the elevation. Shortly after the first houses, the "Bükk Blue" trail branches off left, where a one-minute detour allows us to see the newly born rapid flow of the Garadna stream. Passing through the village’s charming streets and beech woods greeting us at the garden edges, with rocky narrow sections allowing only the asphalt road, we soon leave the mountain village. We enter the Bükk wilderness along the steep rocky sides into the deeply carved, dark gorge of the Vadász Valley. In the initial section, we climb on a clear forestry road, as this path leads both to the village water base and the Jávorkút peak. A few hundred meters later, in the increasingly enclosed valley, the trail follows only the intermittent streambed, winding among fallen trees.

In April 2017, capricious weather covered the forests already blossoming at this altitude with nearly half a meter of snow. Higher up, the trees still budded, while lower down it rained, so the forest was most damaged precisely here. The Vadász Valley and the nearby Száraz Valley leading to Bánkút were almost impassable at the end of the 2010s.

We proceed upward in the increasingly rocky and steeper valley through the dark gorge forest following the stream’s intermittent flow. Fallen trees also complicate our climb on the steepest rocky sections. Dominos-like leaning patterns develop in the old beech stands on the stony mountain sides due to extreme weather. Above the narrowing valley floor and the rocky streambed path, the forestry road leading to the plateau approaches. For a short section, we follow this wide forest road, which curves with the valley by crossing the stream and the hiking trail. We branch off from it into the dense beech trunks, aiming for the opposite mountain slope. Fortunately, the S mark follows an old road trace, so the steep climb can be completed relatively easily and quickly. On the other side of the beech forest, at a higher valley level, we arrive at Csipkéskút, next to the riding hall building on the asphalt road leading to the plateau. Here the trail briefly crosses the forest next to the riding hall but soon turns onto the deteriorating asphalt, which we follow to the plateau.

The road circles around a fenced meadow reserved for the stud, where in good weather you can see foals grazing and playing beyond the thickets. This area has been preserved for the internationally famous Lipizzaner stud farm, as the breed bred from mountain and noble bloodlines requires mountain conditions for healthy upbringing. At one time, horses evacuated from the southern end of the Monarchy in the Croatian Karst Mountains had to stay at the Alföld (Bábolna) stud, but the herd started to develop in the comfortable lowland conditions. The original breeding environment was best matched by the mountain meadows of the Bükk plateau, so for over half a century, Lipizzaner foals galloped on the flat Nagy-mező. Due to trampling and the impact of feeding and fertilizing on the flora of Nagy-mező, free galloping of horses was forbidden, so today we can only see the stud publicly at Csipkéskút.

Along the chain of plateau meadows

Leaving the stud meadow behind us, the S mark turns off through a rocky gorge towards Bánkút, but we continue on the barely visible S cycling mark along the paved road. After a large hairpin turn and descending the steep Csengő swamp, we reach the Bükk plateau at the Bánkút road junction. We turn right on the asphalt road towards Nagy-mező, which opens southwards into a grassy area dotted with old beech groups. The road leading under the Veres-sár-bérc valley passes among alternating old tree groups and grassy clearings. Shortly, the Z mark also joins from Bánkút on a tree-overgrown section, then runs on a parallel trail to the road. If the trail is difficult to walk on due to wet grass, snow or other conditions, it is advisable to stay on the asphalt road as it leads almost to the same place near the triple fork of Nagy-mező.

Gradually, the grassy valley floor between roadside tree groups widens, becoming a distinct mountain meadow, a waving sea of flowers and grass. To the left above the paved road, by the forest edge, stands an old stable from which foals were driven in the mornings to the grassy, low-lying Nagy-mező. Originally, mountain beech forests lived here, but with the creation of clearings due to deforestation, contiguous meadows were formed on the edge of the mountains as grazing areas for cattle and sheep kept by the surrounding population. Even today, a chain of mountain meadows stretches in depressions of the plateau from the Italian Gate above Szilvásvárad to the Lusta Valley near Hollóstető and to Létrás-tető above Lillafüred. With the cessation of traditional animal husbandry, the national park currently maintains and mows these grassy areas to prevent forest expansion.

We reach the asphalt road cutting Nagy-mező in two at the triple fork, turning left towards the Italian Gate and Szilvásvárad. We cross a meadow dotted with juniper groups on the paved road winding around the depressions southwest. The Z mark turns south from the road after a few hundred meters and cuts across the meadow next to the strictly protected fenced area. This is a possible extension of the hike allowing access to the deepest part of the mountain hayfield, but the main route continues along the asphalt, now marked faintly with the S cycling sign.

At the borderline of the roadside pine forest and the meadow, we reach the national park ranger’s house, where at the next junction we turn right into dense pine woods. These plateau coniferous forests are the result of 20th-century afforestation after large-scale deforestation. Pines were initially preferred due to their rapid growth and straight trunks for the cool mountain climate, thriving well in the plateau valleys until the 21st century. Hot and dry summers have also affected them here; the weakened stands became the hotbed for bark beetle infestation. To address this, forestry began cutting down pines almost everywhere, gradually replanting more resistant beeches on the area.

We follow the asphalt westward for a few hundred meters, then turn right onto the K mark continuing to the Faktor meadow in the northern part of the Bükk plateau. We turn north on the K marked grassy cart road along the edge of the Mély-sár valley meadow. We arrive at a very scenic section of our hike, passing smaller hay meadows and forest clearings mainly among pine and beech forests. Gently climbing, we reach a forestry road on the upper part of Mély-sár valley, which winds all the way to Faktor meadow together with the K mark.

At the edge of Faktor meadow, we cross the former railway embankment built for the plateau timber-carrying narrow-gauge railway – used to transport forest materials to the Kukucs Valley ski slope and the Szalajka Valley railway. At Faktor meadow, to the right towards Bánkút, we find a painted image of Mary on a tree made by forest workers, which still receives many prayers. Among old ash trees at the edge of the meadow, we follow the connecting S+ mark briefly across to the far side of the meadow to join the S mark. Initially on a forestry road, then branching off on a path at the lower part of the meadow, we reach the beech forest of the Ablakos-kő valley at the lowest point of the meadow. Traversing the northern edge of the cliff, we cross a forestry road towards the Csurgó meadow. Passing alongside the much-traveled Csurgó forester’s house, the road climbs the southern side of Bálvány to the ski slope. Here, beside the old Bánkút tourist lodge (now operating as White Eagle Guesthouse), we reach Bánkút.

Detour to Bálvány, the highest lookout point of the mountain range

If we have had enough of the plateau atmosphere and want to get a better view out of the mountain range, we are in the best place, as only a few hundred meters from Bánkút we reach the highest vantage point at the Bálvány peak, the Petőfi lookout. For this, we follow the Z+ mark northward, parallel to the asphalt.

We reach a rocky promontory and ascend the rocky ridge of Bálvány, following it west to the mountain’s highest point. Riding the ridge’s small waves, we climb the last short steep section to the peak covered with pines, ashes, and beeches, where the transmission tower and the lookout are located. The Petőfi lookout has several levels – if you are not afraid of heights, it is worth climbing the last ladder from the middle platform since the view unfolds best from its highest part. Around us lies the Bükk mountain mass, covered in patchy forests with meadows. To the north, steep cliffs drop sharply into the dense forested deep valleys. The deepest valley system lies just below us to the west, the Ablakos-kő valley, which we recently passed through. Above in the distance, the western horizon is edged by the Mátra Mountains, and northwards, the Palóc hills, Heves-Borsod hills, and volcanic ranges of Karancs-Medves undulate with many hilltops. To the north, the northern part of the Carpathians is visible on clear days reaching the snowy peaks of the Low Tatras and further right to the rocky crown of the High Tatras.

From the lookout, we descend back along the Z+ mark as we ascended, but opposite the White Eagle Guesthouse, beyond the car park, we cut into the ski slopes at the saddle on the newly forming Száraz Valley along the S+ mark.

Descent to Ómassa

At the ski slope edge on the long meadow cut into the beech forest, we begin our long descent back to Ómassa. To the left, next to the Bán-kút, is the ski house, currently operated as a mountain inn, where we can also stay or refresh ourselves with soup or a cool drink. The ski slopes now have fewer snowy days, and skiing is only possible here for many weeks in particularly fortunate years. Valuable flora and protected communities of butterflies, reptiles, and beetles inhabit the north-facing meadows, spreading along the ski slope system cut into the northern side of Borovnyák Hill. From the ski slope following the long valley bottom, the S+ mark cuts onto the parallel valley bottom trail, which we follow along the forest edge to the bottom of the ski slopes. About a hundred meters of elevation below the ski house near the lowest lifts, the trail crosses the ski slopes bottom. On the asphalt road leading through the valley bottom, we go a few hundred meters to the Bánkút waterworks. The increasingly steep mountain slopes covered with continuous forest narrow to a gorge after the waterworks.

An asphalt lane also connects to the waterworks building from the Bánkút road and another old deteriorating asphalt road leads down to Ómassa, but these take a large detour down the mountain. The S+ mark runs alongside the Ómassa road, crossing the valley bottom of the intermittently flowing stream through the brushy valley bottom. The surge of water during heavy rains constantly reshapes the terrain here, so the hiking trail often leads on a boulder-strewn, muddy path. Descending the deep, rocky valley bottom, we initially pass through dense forest, then after about a kilometer we pass a larger forest clearing covered with dense fern carpet. A small stream joins from the left at the bottom of the wet meadow. Crossing a rocky gorge, we reach another flat area; this used to be Ómassa’s football field, which the forest increasingly reclaims. Crossing another rocky gorge, we enter the wildest, deepest part of Száraz Valley. The stream usually disappears in the rocky valley bottom; among fallen mossy tree trunks, the path is barely detectable.

Száraz Valley merges with Farkas-nyaki Valley and together turn southeast. We enter Ómassa below the power line poles from Szentlélek and arrive exactly at the village center formed by the Vadász pub, bus stop, and church, the endpoint of our hike.