The Wonder of High Mátra, the Ilona Valley

Itinerary:

• From the Szent István-csevicekút we follow the Z marking for one kilometer uphill in the Ilona valley.
• To the Ilona valley waterfall, the Z● marking leads up; from there we continue to the turn of the Parád loop road.
• We continue on the Z marking towards the Markazi Gate, from where we switch to the K marking on the ridge for a short section.
• After a couple of hundred meters, we branch off below Kis-Saskő to the S marking, which takes us to Rózsaszállás.
• Towards Szállás-kő we follow the S● marking, then on the next few hundred meters on an unmarked path; we return on this same route.
• From Rózsaszállás, we descend on the S marking through the Macska-lyuk valley to our starting point.

Detailed description of the hike:

In the spacious Ilona valley

The Szent István-csevicekút, the starting point of our hike, is already one of the most atmospheric parts of the Eastern Mátra. Deep in the Ilona valley we arrive alongside old chestnut tree rows to the spring located at the meeting of gentle meadows and old forest. The mineral water containing dissolved carbon dioxide has been used by locals since ancient times: it was the main remedy for dehydration after drinking alcohol. Around the well, there is an excellent campsite with a rain shelter, benches and tables, and also a fire pit.

Our path starts at the edge of the meadow, along the chestnut tree row, on the paved road marked with Z heading into the mountains. If you are interested in geological curiosities, it is worth detouring into the side valley branching off at the next rest area with the nature trail marking to visit the Ördög Gate. This spectacular formation is located just a few hundred meters from the Ilona valley. The valley, formed of soft clay shale, is crossed by andesite rock intruded and solidified into the sediment. As the lava rock is much more resistant than the clay shale, the stream and erosion have carved out the volcanic formation, which stretches across the valley like a massive cliff several meters high.

Returning past the rest area and a grave, the Z marking branches off from the main valley, but we follow the gravel road in the Ilona valley on the Z● marking. At the Gloriette rest area, the mountain slopes close in and the narrowing valley begins lively twists. The increasingly stony stream bed and steep walls hint that something is developing, we are approaching a geological event.

At the Ilona valley waterfall

The rocky, winding bed is already scattered with huge tree trunks and fallen rock blocks at one point. After a bend, the dark cliff wall closing the valley and blocking our path appears. The geological formation here is similar to what was observed at the Ördög Gate but larger and more massive. The nearly 10-meter cliff over which the stream falls forms Hungary's largest natural waterfall. The power of the floods is shown by the logs and andesite boulders piled up at the waterfall. A special atmosphere is created by the stone men built by tourists from the stones rounded by the stream; silent guardians of the place, watching over the stream bed and cliffs.

The hiking trail bypasses the cliff on the left on gentler terrain, passing along the edge above the waterfall. It is a spectacular yet dangerous section where caution is advised. Further up the valley, smaller cliffs still accompany the stream, but we walk above the watercourse on the mountainside. Noticeably, after the dark, narrow valley, the sunny-facing mountainside glows. The forest changes from hornbeam-beech woodland preferring cooler, wetter conditions to warm-loving oak. Soon, we emerge from the valley onto the winding Parád road on the mountainside.

On the Mátra ridge

At the curve turning back on the Parád loop road, we continue on the Z marking toward the Markazi Gate. If we do not want to climb higher, this can be a convenient shortcut: just continue on the upper branch of the dozer road, and after a kilometer of gentle traverse, arrive at Rózsaszállás, where the original route also passes. However, it is worth visiting the Markazi Gate and the ridge, as this is also a scenic part of the hike. Although we walk through a typical beech forest common on northern slopes up to the gate, the landscape becomes dramatically livelier as we reach the ridge cut.

The Markazi Gate is a natural cut, a low point on the Eastern Mátra ridge where residents on both sides of the mountain range used to cross over. It may have been formed by the incision of the Kékes caldera stream, as the flowing water eroded the valley deeper and carved into the curve of the ridge. The caldera itself is not visible from the Markazi Gate, but the Kékes block dominates the landscape.

The ridge path here traverses the steep northern cliff side, navigated by the K marking. Below the impressive meadow of Kis-Sas-kő, we branch off to the S marking, which bypasses the rocky ridge horizontally. At the point where we roll over the Kis-Sas-kő rock band with a right angle bend, it is worth taking a very short detour downhill to look out from the forest. It is not widely known, but there is an excellent viewpoint about 150 meters below the S marking on the continuation of Kis-Sas-kő. Among hawthorns and smaller rocks, we arrive at a spacious, meadow-crowned area bordered by a cliff dropping down into the Ilona valley below. We can see the bend of the valley as it curves around the Marhát block, which also contains the remains of a medieval castle. From here, we can look far into the Parád valley and the undulating landscape at the meeting point of Heves, Borsod, and Nógrád counties. Returning to the path, we soon descend on a stony lateral trail to the dozer road running beneath us.

Viewpoint of Szállás-hegy

On the forestry road, above Rózsaszállás, we reach a junction where the S marking also bends off. This will be our route's later continuation, but first we visit Szállás-hegy, which offers the most beautiful panorama of the Kékes block on a short walk. For this, we continue on the dozer road accompanied by the S● marking. After a couple of hundred meters, at the next left-hand bend, a rarely used path leads along the ridge through old beech trees to the top of the prominent rise opposite. We ascend the local elevation on an unmarked path, where a meadow surrounded by rocks can be found on the western slope of the hill.

As we walk down the grassy area, the characteristic trapezoid shape of Kékestető towering directly above us and its cloud-piercing transmitter tower becomes more visible. The northern side of the volcanic remnant drops steeply towards us; thick, old forest covers this virtually inaccessible landscape, so apart from the tower rising above the trees, no buildings are visible in the Kékestető chaos. There is limited view also to Galyatető and the northwestern foot of the Mátra, but the sight of Kékes dominates everything.

Back to the valley

We return along the way taken to Rózsaszállás, from where we descend through the mountainside following the S marking. Near Rózsaszállás, a reliable water source is found where we can wash away the sweat of the journey so far, as from here we only descend on a short path. Upon leaving the stream valley, we cross the lower arm of the Parád loop road on a sloping side, and after the pine-forested gentle section of Lapossás hill, we arrive more steeply at the saddle below the mountain.

From here, we can turn west on the S+ marking toward Parádóhuta, but according to the original route, we return to the Szent István-csevicekút on the S marking. Descending along the increasingly steep side of Macska-lyuk, we follow a gully edge back into the Ilona valley in the shade of ancient beech trees. Here, we emerge onto the road at the upper chestnut tree row. From here, a few hundred meters on the already known route brings us back to our starting point, closing the loop hike.