Our country’s northernmost bastion, the Milic massif

Itinerary:

• From Füzér we ascend on the K+, then after the church on the K trail, passing the Károlyi Lookout up to the Nagy-Milic.
• We follow the K trail to the Hermanház-tető saddle.
• We continue on the Z trail along the border to the Oláh-rét.
• From Oláh-rét, we follow the K+ trail to the junction with the National Blue Trail going left (south).
• We continue on the K trail all the way to the Bodó-rét.
• From the end of Bodó-rét, we follow the K+ trail which leads us back to the starting point.

Detailed description of the route:

The Senyánszky and Csata meadow

Starting from the foot of the Castle Hill in Füzér, at the village square, we begin our long ascent to the Nagy-Milic peak, aided by the forestry access path and the K trail. We initially walk on the K+ trail, then on the K marked paved forestry road running under the Füzér castle, bypassing the volcanic cone in a semi-circle. Above us, the renovated fortress shines with bright walls on the dacite rock columns that form the peak. The 13 million-year-old volcanic vent has been exposed by time, eroding the ash and lava layers, making the inner volcano visible. The walls surrounding the summit provided natural protection for one of the country's earliest Árpád-era stone castles, built before the Tatar invasion.

Turning back towards the castle, we leave the path near the visitor center and enter the Zemplén wilderness. Among ancient beech trees, we start the forest section of the route near the Vár-kút (Castle well). The forestry has preserved the forests around ruins and springs as protected areas, creating an authentic ancient atmosphere around the spring. The always abundant fissure spring has a robust basin, which the trail bypasses to the left, cutting the bends of the forestry road climbing to the upper regions. We reach the saddle in a beautiful wind-beech forest and pass the edge of the Senyánszki meadow clearing. Traditionally, this was where wood cut in the forests was transported and piled before being transferred by timber trucks for processing. A memory of this is a semi-underground woodcutter’s hut, the former warming place for forest workers, preserving the memory of the old, austere forest lifestyle.

From Senyánszki meadow, we continue on the lower forestry road, which traverses a very steep rocky mountainside along the edge of the basin above Pusztafalu. The extraordinary steepness of the surrounding mountains is caused by rhyolite magma intruding the soft volcanic sediment as swelling lava rather than erupting, raising the surrounding surface. Deeply cut stream valleys climb steeply up the volcanic domes through the soft sediment. Leaving the forestry road, we follow the upper course of the Falu stream in Pusztafalu, running through the valley between Bükkös-hegy and Kakas-bérc. At its source, we cross the upper forestry road, alongside which a fairy-tale forest cottage, the Csataréti forestry house, stands protected by old beech trees with a rest area. It is worth taking a break here mid-ascent, with a spring quenching our thirst. From here, the path continues steeper.

The siege of Milic’s bastions

For the first stretch, we climb from the valley floor to the saddle behind Kakas-bérc on a trail winding between beech and hornbeam roots. On reaching the ridge, beyond the treetops, the open space and high position can be felt. The rocky zone of Felső-Csata meadow lies next to us, offering a beautiful natural view of the Tokaj Mountains, Hegyköz, and the Bodrogköz region. However, fewer people use the paths leading to the lookout, since the forestry built the Károlyi Lookout on the peak of Kis-Milic above us, offering a wider panorama, which we will soon conquer.

The peak is already on the Slovak side, covered by old beech forest offering a full panoramic view, but the lookout still excellently fulfills its purpose. Nagy-Milic also blocks the view toward Kassa and the Tatra Mountains to the east, but from Kis-Milic, we get a perfect view of the valleys and basins below. The eye-catching sight is the Füzér castle, which appears dwarfed under the volcanic domes forming the mountain mass. Behind it stretches the mosaic landscape of the mountain basin with fields, meadows, and villages, framed by the main peaks of the Tokaj Mountains. In good weather, the silhouette of the namesake Tokaji Nagy-Kopasz with its TV tower appears, and on the eastern edge, the characteristic conical Sátoros Mountains. Exceptionally clear weather, especially in winter, allows spotting the Vihorlát peaks (a continuation of the Carpathian volcanic arc curling east) and the silhouette of Szinyák in the Ukrainian territory.

We return to the meeting point of K and Z trails, which proceed together. We climb with a small hill to the Nagy-Milic peak, which is just a few meters higher than Kis-Milic but offers no views. A pole displaying national symbols stands on the peak, marking the border. We descend through dense beech forest on the southern side of Nagy-Milic, continuing our path along the border on the Z trail. Though this route is a bit longer and touches some smaller peaks on the border ridge, it is superior in atmosphere and view to the descent route along the younger K trail. Unfortunately, old montane beech forests on Milic were logged in the 1970s, so most places on the mountain top are now covered by thin-trunked forests.

Following the “Northern Green” tourist trail is simple, just watch the border stones, and the border ridge clearing provides clear reference points. We alternate between forested, rocky terrain and young forests, from which the landscape opens several times northwards toward the Szalánci Mountains, a continuation of the mountain range. If our eyesight is good, we can even spot a competitor fortress of Füzér castle, the Szalánc castle, on a similar rocky plateau. The most spectacular point before the northernmost border is the Eszkárosi Lookout, standing on a steeply falling mountainside, complementing the missing panorama from Kis-Milic with a natural westward view. Below us, the Hernád valley stretches long at the foot of the Tokaj-Eperjes mountain range. On the far side, the city of Kassa nestles by the wooded ridges of the Gömör-Szepesi Ore Mountains, and in good visibility, the peaks of the High and Low Tatras stand out in the background. Below us, the dense forest of the Milic massif is opened up by the forest clearing of Oláh-rét, where our path leads.

We still have a last few hundred meters of descent to overcome, indeed a ligament-stretching challenge: the border line crosses a very steep cliff almost in a straight line. The rocky viewpoint is bypassed on the Slovak side by the path, but from the border stone marking the country’s northernmost point, a very steep slope begins, where it is best to reduce steepness with switchbacks. Reaching the forestry road clinging to the mountainside, which connects the two parts of Oláh-rét on the Hungarian and Slovak sides, is a real relief. There is also a rain shelter here where we can rest after the field struggles. From here, the K+ trails accompany our steps.

Back to Füzér through mountain meadows

The Hungarian part of Oláh-rét is smaller but still represents unique value with living wildlife preserving Carpathian elements. Highly protected plants and their associated arthropods — such as marsh gentians and ant butterflies — populate this charming meadow patch. At the end of the meadow, in the beech hall, is our country’s northernmost hut, the Oláh-réti forestry lodge, which represents true Carpathian atmosphere with its porch beam structure.

From the forestry road behind the house, changing to a trail, we reconnect with the K trail. Unfortunately, the forestry road leading to Lászlótanya, which is nearly flat, has been fenced off around the Károlyi Castle, so it is impossible to take the most straightforward route through it. After a slight ascent, we comfortably descend through a wind-beech forest to the asphalt road leading to Bodó-rét. Here there are cottages and weekend houses, but like Oláh-rét, the park-like meadow is similarly valuable and highly protected. According to the season, patches of primroses, pasqueflowers, Siberian irises, and Corydalis color the clearing, but in summer, its lush richness is shown by thousands of polychrome flowers.

At the southern end of the meadow, near the asphalt road bend, we turn onto a forestry road next to a rain shelter — here the K+ trail joins us, leading to Füzér. On the southern side of the saddle opens a clearing, the Hosszú-rét, after which we descend for a long time on the forestry cycle path. We pass a water source, the Hideg-forrás, with a rest area and a small clearing inviting a break. Even if we don't stop, it is worth drawing water from the always abundant basin. Water filtered through the volcanic layers of Milic flows between the stones, free of impurities.

We leave the beech forests at the foot of Kerékgyártó-bükk on a right turn and descend through mixed conifer forest, admiring the view of Füzér castle. At the pasture with scattered trees, the Felső-malmi-rét, we leave the forestry road, then after crossing a saddle and turning right, new pastures and groves alternate. From the saddle, it is worth looking back to the Milic massif, as we can see an interesting geological formation: the Kövecses rubble heap. Originally a nearly hundred-meter-high rocky cliff, subject to permanent freezing effects during the Ice Age, it shattered into huge andesite blocks, which now support the western side of Szőlőhegy in steep piles.

We arrive comfortably on a wide forestry road at the border of Füzér; the view of the castle dominating the ridge is impressive. We descend among pastures into the village, where turning left at the first cross street, from Kossuth street we turn onto Árpád street. Finally, turning right, we head for the church, around which the circuit closes.