Becske - Mátraverebély (OKT-19)

Itinerary

Throughout the route, we must follow the K mark.

• The K mark climbs up to the base of Szanda peak, then descends to Szandaváralja.
• From Szandaváralja, passing through Terény, we go to Cserhátsurány.
• From Cserhátsurány, we climb over to Nógrádsipek.
• From Nógrádsipek, the Blue Trail climbs into Dobogó-nyereg and arrives at Hollókő.
• From Hollókő, we rollercoaster through Szár-hegy to Felsőtold, then also pass through Alsótold.
• From Alsótold, we turn to the Bableves csárda.
• From Bableves csárda, we climb up to Tepke, then from there the Blue Trail leads to Nagybárkány.
• From Nagybárkány, via visiting Sámsonháza, we reach Mátraverebély Szentkút.
• After Szentkút, we visit Mátraverebély.

Details about the route

Becske - Szandaváralja

We start from the airy center of Becske and head out through the street towards the village edge. We go up through a forest alley and then reach open terrain: from the hilltop, to the left, we can see Szanda rising steeply and to the right, the mined Berceli mountain. We approach the summit on a nice path, crossing the abandoned mine service road in between. Upon reaching the saddle, take a detour to the right on the KL mark to visit the castle!

Before the castle, on an exposed section of the hillside, the trail is bordered by a railing: beyond it, we can see a real geological sensation. The rock draping the hillside in a folded manner is andesite, whose columnar separation is rare across the continent, as this formation is generally typical of basalt – a similar sight can be seen near Bér. The molten rock pushing upwards flowed into cracks and fissures of the overlying sedimentary rocks, where it cooled and solidified into rock. It contracted while cooling and took its visible appearance today. The volcanic rock slowly emerged from the surrounding faster eroding environment and was exposed due to mining activities, revealing this unique formation.

Not much remains of the castle: only a fragment of the former residential tower wall stands lonely on the peak. From here, the view is splendid: the landscape ripples from Börzsöny to Mátra, and on clear days the characteristic peaks of the Buda and Visegrád Mountains can easily be identified. Descending, we soon exit the forest and broad pastures take over on the hillside. We leave a beautiful panorama behind as we step into the rows of houses of the charming holiday village of Szandaváralja. The stamp can be found in the village center at the OKK information board!

Szandaváralja - Nógrádsipek

From the small but beautiful village, we climb onto a hill ridge. Enjoying views among patches of forest and hill scenery, we arrive at Terény. The village's pride is about 80 old houses with hip roofs. From here, we ascend the ridge of the next low range, from which we get a panorama of Cserhátsurány and the larger mountainous area rising east of it.

From the settlement, we ascend on the old cart road that once connected to Szécsény, gaining altitude with pleasant views of Herencsény, a valley opening in multiple directions at the meeting of valleys. We walk on a low hill ridge and climb one more hill before Nógrádsipek, from where magnificent views open at several points. We descend deep into the hill world, where in the secluded valley village time seems to have stood still for a few decades. Nonetheless, a beautiful, forested environment frames the rows of houses, and the stamp is located on an information board at the edge of a park.

Nógrádsipek - Hollókő

Though we travel among hills barely over 500 meters high, the streams of the largest contiguous forest area of Cserhát can produce violent floods at times, as indicated by the reservoir created in the valley. We climb a beautiful, increasingly narrow valley; the andesite rocks lying in the bed already signal the volcanic heights of the mountain massif. To the right, the K● mark branches off; about 800 meters detour leads to Dobos-kút, which is not only a reliable and drinkable spring but also a great bivouac hut if spending the night outdoors. After reaching Dobogó-nyereg, a barely 10-minute detour to the right (marked S and then S▲) leads to the Dobogó-tető lookout: from the ruins of the dangerous geodetic tower, the most beautiful panorama around opens. Besides a significant part of the North Hungarian Mountains, the mountains of the Upper Hungary region appear, and we can enjoy views all the way to the High Tatras.

The path leads downhill through a turf-covered oak forest to Hollókő. We reach Sós-puszta; from its pasture gate, we can gaze at a typical Cserhát scene: a mosaic of low, forested ridges, valley-side clearings, and inhabited basins form the landscape. (Walk out to the corner of the dirt road running along the upper edge of the field! From here, the northern part of Nógrád and the mountains of Slovakia can also be seen.) We enter the forest again and descend to Hollókő's Old Village. The Palóc rows of houses belonging to the World Heritage were built after the great fire in 1909. Strolling along the cobblestone main street, we finally turn back at the bus stop to József Attila street, where we can stamp at the Blue Trail information board set up next to the patch of terrain.

Hollókő – Bableves csárda

It is worth spending a few hours visiting the castle ruins in Hollókő, which contain unusually airy and detailed architectural features. From the hillside behind the castle, a wide panorama reveals itself: to the north, the southern ridges of the Slovak Carpathians, the higher areas of the Gömör-Szepesi Ore Mountains are visible. Returning to the Blue Trail, we take on the ridge of Szár-hegy. The forest is dissected by barren, bushy areas, from which we can look out over the valley below and the high ridge of Tepke. We follow a narrow path, then descend the hillside to admire again the next target (the Tepke ridge), which offers a view free from clearings. We reach only the edge of Felsőtold, cross the meadows, and then enter Alsótold. These two villages nestled in a small valley basin boast one of the most idyllic locations in the Cserhát Mountains.

The K mark turns into the valley of Alsó-szurdok. This may once have been a true gorge, but due to the asphalt road winding on the opposite side of the creek, little of this remains perceptible today. We arrive at Bableves csárda, which is both a cozy restaurant and a stamping place. From here begins the most rugged and mountainous section of the Cserhát Blue Trail, indeed no coincidence: we climb the higher peaks of the mountain range, whose volcanic-origin ridges geologically belong to the Mátra.

Bableves csárda - Nagybárkány

We cross a small plateau on a plowed field, already spotting the Tepke lookout tower from the open meadow. Entering the forest, we take a small loop to reach the ridge, and climb steeply to the 567-meter-high Tepke. The steel tower offers a magnificent view: before us unfolds the whole hilly, colourful Cserhát, and the massive body of Börzsöny is clearly visible, as well as, if lucky, the lower stripes of the Visegrád and Buda Mountains. In the opposite direction, the massive ridges of Mátra form a wall, and with our gaze, we can search for the country’s two highest points, Galya-tető and Kékes. To the north, the flat plateau of Bükk, Karancs, and on clear days the Upper Hungary mountains swell.

After the lookout, we tread a memorable steep-sided ridge path. We rollercoaster over the highest point, Purgá, and after Macska-hegy, we look out from a rocky ridge to Garáb. Finally, we descend steadily, and the path passes beside many springs bursting from beneath volcanic rocks on the hillside. Arriving above Nagybárkány, a lasting landscape welcomes us: initially, only the church tower peeks above the grassy hills, and the village appears only later, while in the background, the huge mass of Mátra shines blue. The stamp can be found in the shop at Petőfi street 48 in the village.

Nagybárkány – Mátraverebély

We climb another hill, and again the panorama is like a fairy tale: behind the outermost mountain ranges of Cserhát, the Mátra emerges. At the end of a meadow, we reach asphalt and pass the famous Sámsonháza quarry. Mining revealed a memorable geological phenomenon: the layers of volcanic activity stages are stacked, painting the cliff in different colors, with grainy and more uniform bands, topped by the white limestone paste of later marine transgression.

We say goodbye to the typically small Cserhát villages at Sámsonháza, first crossing a creek valley, then a small watershed, to arrive at the Szentkút shrine. Legend says that here King Saint Ladislaus I’s fleeing horse's hoof caused the healing spring water to flow from the ground. By the renovated, shady pilgrimage site, it is worth exploring the small canyon valley of the Saint Ladislaus Rift and the hermit cave carved into volcanic rock and tufa. A short forest walk leads us to Mátraverebély, where we cross the Zagyva River and thus enter the Mátra area. The stamp can be found on the stairs of the Town Hall at the corner of Vasút street and Rét street.