The three faces of the Bükk: cutting across the western ends

Itinerary

• From Felsőtárkány follow the P trail to the Őr-kő meadow.
• We climb up to Őr-kő on the K▲ trail and return on the same path.
• We start descending north from the plateau on the P trail.
• At the World War II soldier graves, turn right onto the S trail.
• The Z trail leads through the Szalajka Valley all the way to Szilvásvárad.

Detailed description of the hike

Under the Bükk plateau

Next to the main street of Felsőtárkány is the heating house of the narrow-gauge railway leading to the seasonal Vörös-kő Valley spring, specifically the Stimecz House. We take our first steps parallel with the rails, then when they cross the asphalt, we turn with them. The railway snakes squeezed between the car road and the gardens and concrete. The street curves right, then left – at the latter, near the end of the row of houses, take a few steps towards the left-side meadow end and pass behind the bushes, because here you can enjoy the most beautiful and widest valley view opening to the Bükk plateau. Behind the long pasture, the main massif of the Bükk rises like a majestic mountain range, the plateau and its sharply dropping southern escarpment. The peaks are missing – as if they were trimmed off the roof level – but instead, the Bükk stones shine white. Due to internal forces, limestone layers in nearly vertical position rest on slate rocks, but the latter erodes faster than its sedimentary companion. Losing its 'undermining', the limestone collapsed, and the remaining edge rock ridge and cliff line form today's 'row of stones'. The tops offer a splendid view, but seen from below also provide a magical spectacle. From the left (west) lineup stands the somewhat hard-to-spot Őr-kő, next to it the most spectacular Pes-kő, easily recognizable is Tar-kő with its height, and to the east closes the row the grassy-topped Három-kő.

Following the path, soon we reach the narrow-gauge railway's first station, Varróház. On the right behind the fence is a tiny wildlife park – you can walk halfway into the cage on a board built about two meters above the ground. At the fence corner, the railway tracks penetrate a plant tunnel and head into the depths of the Bükk. We do the same but choose a different direction: staying on the P trail on the forestry road of Hideg-kút Valley. Essentially, we enter the gate of the Bükk wilderness, from here we count the kilometers entirely in the forest. We cross some small clearings, a dark pine forest edge, ford the creek, and finally arrive at the fence of Napsugár rest house (key-house) in a nice forest.

In the Pes-kő Valley

The valley here divides: the P trail turns right into Pes-kő Valley, and we follow it. We enter a very rarely traveled, wooded, narrow valley from start to finish. Among the passable valleys, this might be the most undisturbed and least visited in the Bükk. Its beauty lies precisely in its untouched nature. Don't expect significant sights; its remoteness and length are the main reasons for its solitary character. The creek disappears now and then, when it reaches limestone from the boundary of southward-running clay slopes – the water 'consumes' the limestone and seeps away underground like an underground stream. The feeding Pes-kő spring usually works even during the greatest summer droughts, only very rarely drying up entirely.

At one point, the bend of the neighboring Gyetra Valley approaches our valley so closely that the ridge separating the two lowers to a few meters – in the near geological future, it is expected that the two streams (if human intervention does not prevent it) will cut through the ridge and form the surrounding landscape in a common bed.

After a few more stream crossings, the romantic Pes-kő House, the mountain hut of the Carpathian Association, appears along the path. The small, charming building standing deep in the forest far from everything has by its side the Pes-kő spring – definitely fill our bottles here, as a very difficult section awaits in the next kilometers. A few meters before the house, it is worth lifting our gaze upwards: particularly wild is the view of the Pes-kő rock towering directly before us above the tree crowns. In other domestic medium mountain ranges, we do not encounter such a seemingly high, rugged cliff wall. It is also worth assessing the height from the perspective that we are heading to a higher point than seen. The previously gently rising hiking trail has here reached the edge of the plateau and becomes steeper, at times uncomfortably steep.

Up to the plateau

The next one and a half kilometers are indeed steep, but the barely disturbed, mixed-age beech forest and stony slope surroundings, with the Pes-kő rock wall rising among the trees, create such a wild atmosphere that the effort is certainly worth it. Upon reaching the plateau, smaller and bigger sinkholes, rock walls, and remnants of lime-burning ovens greet us in the country’s highest microregion. We are in a remote, rarely disturbed corner of the Bükk, where the sounds and noises of civilization do not reach. Turning left at the Őr-kő meadow, we can visit the Őr-kő house – the nature conservation guard house recently ceased to operate as a mountain hut. A WWF poster on its door draws attention to keep quiet, as we are on the land of lynxes and wolves, in the research area dealing with them.

The panorama of Őr-kő

On the opposite side of the Őr-kő meadow starts the path climbing the rocks, leading to the devil-plowed top of Őr-kő. From the 880-meter high, small plateau, the view is fantastic: the plateau stretches below us even in a narrow section, so to the left we can observe the forehead of the Pes-kő slightly from behind and from the side. Behind it and facing us waves almost the entire Southern Bükk: a huge forested area with higher mountains on the edge, and in its central part, a low-appearing, gently shaped mountainous world compared to the plateau. Below us can be seen the plain of the Tárkány Basin deeply protruding into the mountains; we can easily spot the pasture visited at the start of our hike on the village's edge. To the right, behind a few parallel ridges, sparkle the windows of Eger, and in the background stretches the long ridge of the Mátra.

Returning to the Őr-kő meadow, this time we turn left to continue following the P trail. We cut through a small patch of meadow with chains, and soon reach the dozer road descending the northern side of the plateau. The hiking trail follows a landslide, then after a steep section, turns left and arrives with a smaller switchback to the World War II (German) soldier graves (resting place). (If we stay on the P trail, within an hour, we can reach Bélapátfalva railway station or one of the bus stops.)

In the Szalajka Valley

From here, our hike takes a new direction, and after crossing the infinitely quiet, deserted Pes-kő Valley, we now visit the third face of the mountain range: the tourist-attracting, developed natural environment. The tourist trail marked S approaches the bottom of the Horotna Valley on a forestry road cut into a steep mountainside. It joins the Z trail, then we reach the Open-Air Forest Museum, where we can get more familiar with forestry tools. Only a few steps remain to the famous, truly beautiful, but thoroughly developed and crowded Szalajka Valley and its main attraction, the Fátyol Waterfall. We can admire the waterfall behind the tufa formations from behind a fence. When the water contacts limestone and penetrates its interior with carbonic acid, it dissolves a part of the rock. As the creek leaves the cave, the carbon dioxide evaporates, and the formerly dissolved lime content starts precipitating. The tufa covers obstacles in the creek bed (e.g., tree trunks). The cascading water over these newly formed steps creates the roar of the Fátyol Waterfall. If we arrive at the right time, we can finish the hike by narrow-gauge train. From the Gloriette clearing, one can clearly see the northern wall of the plateau and its highest points, Istállós-kő (959 m) and Szilvási-kő (961 m).

Following the S signs, we head down the valley, which is indeed exceptionally rich in sights: first, the Rock Spring flowing out from the cliff fissure attracts the eye on the right. This beautiful formation already creates a more natural impression than the fenced Fátyol Waterfall due to its surroundings. Lower we pass the trout farms, then alongside the artificially dammed Big Lake, and finally step on its dam. We visit the Forestry Museum, a very small game park, and suddenly from the right appears the much more untouched Tótfalu Valley, attracting few visitors. From here, it is less than 30 minutes among restaurants and buffets to the valley end, the main street of Szilvásvárad. A few more meters and we reach the bus stop, but if seeking the railway, we should choose the left direction.