Wandering in the forest hiding sinkholes

Itinerary:

• From Bódvaszilas we hike up on the K trail to the Alsó-hegy plateau, near the Meteor Cave.
• We descend to the Meteor Cave with a short detour on the KΩ trail.
• Turning back on the K trail, we walk to the junction of the Z trail.
• We follow the Z trail to the right, towards the Bába Valley.
• In the Bába Valley we turn right following the K trail to the Szabó-pallag forester's lodge.
• From the ruined forester's lodge we go straight following the K+ trail leading to Vecsem-Bükk.
• At a junction we turn right onto the Z trail.
• A few meters later, we make a detour to the left on the ZΩ trail towards the Vecsem-bükk sinkhole.
• We descend from the mountain on the Z trail to the National Blue Trail junction.
• We descend back to Bódvaszilas on the K trail.

Detailed description of the hike:

In the long trough of the Bódva Valley

We start our circular walk from the center of Bódvaszilas on the K trail. Our path leads past the old Árpád-era village’s once more glorious historic buildings, behind the fortified church and the Esterházy castle. We leave the settlement at the imposing manorial granary, from where we look back to the village nestled in the corner of the Bódva valley.

In the history of Bódvaszilas, the nearby Szádvár castle was decisive; it reigned as the domain center over the area until the Habsburg reprisals of 1686, when the fortress was blown up to suppress Kuruc resistance. Bódvaszilas then took over the central role; the area's then landowners, the Esterházys, moved their seat to the castle built behind the fortified church. Due to the phylloxera plague and the fragmented land ownership, many emigrated to America. With the drawing of the Trianon borders, what was once the busy Bódva valley leading to Kassa became a border zone. Tornas district center moved from Torna to Bódvaszilas, strengthening its administrative role, but this only meant a relative rise compared to the otherwise impoverishing regional decline.

We approach slowly the massive limestone block of Alsó-hegy, which stretches eastward with a single steep, rocky-shrubby limestone face. However, the route cleverly finds the gentler Kónya named outcrop emerging from the limestone wall, where we ascend with the slightest steepness to the Alsó-hegy plateau. Bypassing the waterworks, we enter a shrubby, grove-like forest at the mountain ridge, where we enter the territory of Aggteleki National Park. From here, our circular walk leads entirely through protected areas.

In the hanging garden at the edge of Alsó-hegy

Below to the right spring the Kökény-berk and Vecsem springs, which seemingly carry the water of the plateau, which otherwise shows no surface streams, to the surface. Characteristic of the karst area, waters seep from the surface into fissures and larger dissolved cavities of the limestone layers, collecting underground before emerging together at the foot of the mountain. Our first cave also serves this purpose: the Meteor Cave is an old sinkhole legacy channeling the waters flowing underground in the limestone block, collecting in one of the country’s largest cave halls, with unknown passages delivering these waters to the springs.

Over the unexplored underground passages, on the mountain spur, and by overcoming a steep slope on a bulldozer road, we come to the plateau edge, winding among the characteristic rocky sinks of the karst area on the K trail. Between two larger sinks, a branching path starts on the right to the bottom of a hollow (KΩ trail). The entrance to the Meteor Cave hides in the shaded half-light of an old hornbeam-beech forest, under a spectacular mossy, dissolved rock face. The cave passage system was discovered in the early 1960s by tracing dyed water that seeped through the limestone, emerging at the Vecsem springs. The cave got its name then, as it was explored by the Speleological Section of the Red Meteor SE. Its uniqueness is the huge Titan Hall decorated with gigantic stalactite formations, one of Hungary’s largest and most spectacular cave chambers.

If you want only a short hike, from the Meteor Cave we can follow the K trail north to the Szabó-pallag forester's lodge. Or, following our route description, with a couple kilometers extra, we can enter one of the karst’s atmospheric hanging valleys, the Bába Valley. For this, you must go back 100 meters on the K trail to the Nagy-Vizes-sinkhole slope, then join the Z trail east (to the right). Along a steep rocky route, we traverse around the Nagy-Kopasz-galy peak. A slight descent brings us to the flat sinkholes of Drúga-pallag, where only the name preserves the former mountain hayfield now reclaimed by forest. A short climb takes us across the Bene-bérc saddle, and in the beech forest beyond we enter the mysterious Bába Valley.

At the now dried valley bottom, numerous cave cavities and sinks gape, marking the role of the deep water drainage. The moss-covered rocks and the dark, dense forest give a mysterious atmosphere. At the valley bottom, which slopes westward with a row of flat sinks, we again join the K trail, turning right (north), delving deeper into the plateau’s interior towards Szabó-pallag. The narrowing valley slowly ascends, and just a few hundred meters from us runs the state border: the far side of Alsó-hegy is Slovakia. However, in the settlements of the Torna valley, mainly Hungarian is spoken with a strong Palóc dialect.

On the Alsó-hegy plateau, in the forest reserve

After crossing a forestry road, we reach the plateau. From here, the landscape undulates in rhythmic alternation of sinks and rounded hilltops. The proximity of the central Carpathian massif influences the climate, so despite the low average altitude, mountain species characterize the area. The local forestry sought to take advantage of this by planting pines. The coniferous patches today leave large clear-cuts as a legacy, since the weakening, non-native pine forests have been infested by spreading pathogens, prompting local conservation efforts to promote their removal.

At the edge of a former pine forest now overgrown with shrubs, in the side of a notable sinkhole, lies the Szabó-pallag sinkhole, commonly known as the Owl Gorge. It opens with less spectacular rock towers than the extensive chimney and fissure system spreading underground in all directions. Entering it requires great expertise and physical and mental endurance, so it is entrusted to professional cavers. Approaching it is also dangerous as the densifying scrubby undergrowth makes access increasingly difficult.

The winding forestry road from the sinks soon reaches the former forester's lodge and surrounding pastures. The ruined stone building of Szabó-pallag forester's lodge and its nearby rest area equipped with a barbecue and rain shelter serve as a strategic point for both cavers and hikers. From here all three famous Alsó-hegy sinkholes are most easily accessible: the already mentioned Owl Gorge, the Almási sinkhole near the border, and the Vecsem-bükk sinkhole, which for a long time was the deepest cave known in Hungary.

At Szabó-pallag we switch to the K+ trail continuing east across the plateau. We cross a charming hay meadow recalling the Bükk plateau and nearby Carpathian pastures. Beyond the wildflower meadow we enter the dense mixed forest that characterizes the whole Alsó-hegy. The Vecsem-bükk area is part of the Alsó-hegy Forest Reserve, so the forest remains naturally mixed and unfragmented by clearcut patches. Walking on the path winding among the sinks in the impenetrable, shady forest makes the hike timeless; after a while, a sense of being lost may take over on the repetitive landscape lacking orientation points. Watch the trail markers carefully to avoid getting lost in the complex paths. After a longer northbound section, we persistently move east among the hollows. Thanks to the Carpathian climatic influence, moss and lichen cover the tree trunks, enhancing the primeval forest atmosphere.

Gate to the depths: the Vecsem-bükk sinkhole

When we feel completely lost in the rock-studded world undulating with sinks in the dense forest, the Z trail crosses our path in the northern corner of Vecsem-bükk. The road heads towards the Slovak side, as here we are barely a stone’s throw from the border. We turn back south along the Z signs, then after a few steps, make a short detour on the ZΩ trail to a wide sinkhole below us. The deepest cave of the mountain range, the Vecsem-bükk sinkhole, opens beside it.

Although caves rarely reveal their secrets at first glance, at the Vecsem-bükk sinkhole entrance you can feel the enormous size of the fissure leading to the immense depths. The opening breathes cool, moist air from the mountain’s bowels, and the moss-covered, stepwise narrowing rocks fade away below us into the misty gloom.

Returning to the junction, we follow the forest road winding among the sinks going south, navigated by the Z trail. About a kilometer later, we exit the enchanted forest of the plateau. Suddenly striking are the wide panoramas opened by the mountain slope dropping below us. The road turns sharply right and starts a persistent descent cutting through the rocky mountainside. After a small neck resting place, we stroll on a gentle arc in the Pályi valley head, then reach the right slope and return to the K trail. From here, we reach Bódvaszilas on the ascending introductory section we already covered.