The great volcano circuit, or the faces of Börzsöny

Itinerary:

• Leaving Kismaros railway station, we cycle along the narrow-gauge railway towards Szokolya and Királyrét.
• At Királyrét, we continue straight uphill on the forest asphalt road following the K cycling sign, then after about 2.5 km we turn right together with the sign onto the wide dozer road.
• We follow the P cycling sign for many kilometers up to the paved road between Diósjenő and Kemence.
• We turn left on the paved road and follow the excellent quality forest asphalt strip running through the Kemence stream valley all the way to Kemence.
• At Kemence, we join the country road along the Ipoly towards Szob and cycle through Vámosmikola to the Nagybörzsöny junction.
• Climbing up to Nagybörzsöny, we turn right following the K sign next to the Museum House and the Miners' Church (although not separately marked locally, this is also a cycling route).
• Leaving the village, we descend on a rocky forest road to the bottom of the Farkas valley on the K sign, where an excellent quality forest asphalt road awaits us. We follow this from there. We cross the Water Divide at Nagyirtáspuszta and then descend to Kóspallag.
• From Kóspallag, we cycle on the country road towards Kismaros and the 12 road along the Danube, but at the junction near Törökmező we turn right.
• Passing through Törökmező, we circle on the forest asphalt to its very end, the car park located above Nagymaros. From here, we can make a walking detour to the uniquely panoramic Julianus barát tower (K sign).
• From the car park, we descend on the excellent forest biking trail under the power lines (Csizmadia valley) following the K cycling sign to Zebegény.
• Reaching the main street of the village, we turn left and soon arrive at the end of our route, Zebegény railway station.

Detailed description of the route:

In the attraction of mountain tourism on the southern side of the mountain range

We start our tour at an iconic point in Kismaros: next to the railway station is the station of Börzsöny’s first, beautifully renovated narrow-gauge railway line (Királyréti forest railway). Today the tourist narrow-gauge railway runs from here to Királyrét and the former Szokolyahuta, and we mostly follow its track alongside the country road up to Királyrét. When hikers did not yet travel here, the railway penetrated deep into the forests, as it was built like other similar narrow-gauge railways in the country for valuable timber and quarrying interests.

Leaving Kismaros, once abandoned due to the Turkish invasion and repopulated by German settlers, we cycle on a gently rising country road past the houses of Börzsönyliget towards Szokolya and then Királyrét. Since Királyrét is the easiest approach to the central part of the mountain range, one of the country’s most extensive uninhabited areas, the High Börzsöny, it quickly became the best-known hiking center of the mountain range (which can be seen in the weekend traffic). While the current name refers to the hunting lodge of rulers in the Middle Ages, the old name of the resort area refers to the iron ore mining (one of the mine entrances is still visible behind the playground) and processing (hammer mill) that occurred here somewhat later. Királyrét offers several tourist attractions worth visiting. The lynx house (Hiúz Ház) operated by the national park, the visitor center (visitor center) converted from the former forester’s lodge, and the handcar track operating at the narrow-gauge railway terminus are all excellent sights.

On renowned roads on the eastern side of the Börzsöny

From Királyrét, we continue straight uphill on the forest asphalt road following the K cycling sign, then turn right into the Cseresnyés valley along with the sign. A beautiful mid-mountain section awaits, giving us a taste of one of Hungary’s largest continuous forests. The main reason lies in the area’s geological history: the mountain range’s shape surprisingly well preserves the former ancient volcano structure, and from the main peak, Csóványos, its former caldera is still recognizable today, where no settlements are found in the wild forests. Unfortunately, there is little opportunity to look around from the bike because this section, known as the War Road, offers a taste of the hardness of volcanic rock that builds the mountain range...

Emerging from the Cseresnyés valley, the first section is a steep macadam road paved with stones, then fortunately several straight sections, descents, and much less stone characterize the route. We likely will not encounter many tourists here, which is generally true for the less-traveled eastern side of the mountain range. At one point, we have a beautiful view towards Naszály.

This brings us to the paved road connecting Diósjenő with Kemence, where it’s worth a rest as one of the hardest climbs awaits. Crossing the saddle above Diósjenő called Závoz, this was already an important medieval trade route passing into the Kemence stream valley. The well-suited road was naturally used later for forestry management, from which the wagon roads leading into the mountain range were attached – still clearly visible on today’s maps. The ancient road’s macadam serpentine section ascending to Závoz was built during the "estate" era by the last local forest owner, widow Sándorné Sváb, in the late 1920s. At that time, a narrow-gauge railway also transported timber extracted from the estate forests to the loading point and from there to settlements or the railway. After the First Vienna Award, the ancient road to Závoz also became an important military route.

Carpathian atmospheres on the northern side of the mountain range

Climbing the Závoz saddle, the highest point of our route (501 m), the perhaps wildest section of the tour awaits. It’s easy to imagine that the Slavic word “köves” (kamenica, meaning rocky) gave the name to our next destination, Kemence, as we follow the wild Kemence stream rushing among rocks on this section. The stream is surrounded by beautiful forests, mysterious moss-covered cliffs, and vast woodlands. Along the road, traces of former mountain farming can be found: narrow-gauge trains rattled here, there is a quarry, and the beautiful meadows by the roadside were once mountain hayfields.

The information board at the hairpin bend by the former weigh house is not without reason: lynxes have found a home here in such a forest, and even brown bears occasionally wander here from nearby Slovakia. The Kemence stream valley offers developed cycling infrastructure with resting places at Závoz, Király Spring, Kenyeres Spring, Gyeplős Spring, and in Kemence at the narrow-gauge railway terminus.

Although the High Börzsöny’s significant heights are not part of the tour, the characteristic Carpathian atmosphere can be mostly experienced here in the Kemence stream valley. At Királyháza, named after King Matthias who once hunted here, accommodation is available, and fit hikers can enjoy an unforgettable experience climbing the former volcano’s peak from the north through nearby Nagy-Mána (climb). Staying in nearby Kemence allows a less exhausting way to explore the High Börzsöny’s closed forests, as the closed caldera rim runs from Magosfa through Csóványos and Nagy-Hideg Hill to Holló-kő, only cut across northwards by the Black Stream, which flows into the Kemence stream here.

The Csarna valley, one of the country’s most untouched forests, can be reached by shorter and longer hikes and even partly by narrow-gauge train (Kemence Forest Museum Railway). Even if not planning to conquer the wild northern side of the Börzsöny on foot, stopping at Kenyeres Spring is highly recommended! The abundant spring not only quenches thirst but informs that about 400 springs are counted in Börzsöny, many of which are considered very abundant.

From Kemence to Nagybörzsöny on the western side of the mountain range

Leaving Kemence, a longer ride and real roller coaster awaits while continuously admiring the imposing Börzsöny massif on our left. It’s almost unbelievable that we came down here through what looks like a continuous block of mountains by the Ipoly. Even more unbelievable that we will soon reach Nagyirtáspuszta through those mountains!

To see Nagybörzsöny’s famous sights, a tough climb awaits, but it’s worth it. We are not anywhere: the saying in Nagybörzsöny once was “only the tail of the gold calf is in Selmecbánya, its head reaches Börzsöny.” This referred to the quality and quantity of gold, silver, copper, and iron ore mines working around Nagybörzsöny even in the time of King Sigismund. Besides Hungarians, kings settled Saxons here, and in 1439 Nagybörzsöny was mentioned as a mining town, rivaling today's Selmec-, Körmöc-, and Besztercebánya. Although mining long stopped and mines were blasted, the village’s notable past speaks everywhere while walking around.

The village’s best-known sight is the Romanesque Saint Stephen church fortified with a protective wall on the village edge, but there is also a preserved water mill, museum house, and Gothic miners’ church. Many old houses still feature a blank door opening to the street as the porch end, through which residents were escorted on their last journey by family members. An interesting legend is linked to the strange mustached heads on the church’s ornate cornice: locals who fled to the church from Tatars slaughtered the attacking Tatar troops, cut off their heads, leaving only one as a memento. These are Tatar heads, and the single empty place symbolizes the survivor.

Again in the south, in the attraction of the Danube Bend

After the Nagybörzsöny rest, we leave the village following the K sign on a steep climb. Reaching the top, we descend on a rocky road to the bottom of Farkas valley beside the stream on a rather stony forest road. Fortunately, from here we can climb to Nagyirtáspuszta on an excellent forest concrete road with a pleasant ascent, where we find the nicely renovated station of the narrow-gauge line functioning as the Transzbörzsöny connecting Szob and Nagybörzsöny, and the Szent Orbán Forest Hotel, one of Hungary’s most excellent mountain resorts, built with significant improvements from the tourist house.

After this, the ride continues fast, but pay special attention here, as many tourists arrive with cars to Nagyirtáspuszta. Leaving Kóspallag, we cycle towards the Danube on the country road, then turn right at Törökmező. The closed forests here give place to huge mountain meadows, former hayfields: Törökmező is one of Börzsöny’s largest mountain pastures, whose medieval origin and significant role in local settlements are also documented in historical sources. Our route waves through this beautiful landscape up to the car park above Nagymaros. Before the car park lies the so-called Csapásrétek wooded pasture, perhaps the most picturesque of all meadows. Once, this elongated pasture allowed cattle drivers to shorten the route along the Danube detouring widely, while the lush mountain pastures provided fodder needed for the hundreds of kilometers ahead to Western European markets.

From the car park, it is worth a walking detour (following the K sign) to the emblematic Julianus barát lookout tower built in 1938–1939 on Hegyes Hill. From here, you can see the imposing block of the High Börzsöny beautifully, as well as the Danube Bend, one of Hungary’s most beautiful landscapes, with a wonderful view. We can also understand from here that while the area around Hegyes Hill is geographically part of the Börzsöny mountain range, geologically it belongs to the Visegrád Mountains. It is also worth recalling the last scenes of the Börzsöny film in the "One and a Half Million Steps in Hungary" series. In those, an expert explains the plans for the Bős-Nagymaros dam system signed on 16 September 1977, inside the lookout tower above Nagymaros. Fortunately, the planned power plant in the Danube Bend was never built, but the artificial dams near Visegrád remain as unique and unfortunate landscape mementos.

After many experiences and different types of landscapes, our tour offers one final surprise. Returning to the car park, we follow the K cycling sign down a gently sloping, completely stone-free excellent biking terrain to the route’s endpoint, the picturesque Zebegény, the most scenic settlement of the Danube Bend.