Bódvaszilas - Boldogkőváralja (OKT-25)

Itinerary

During the route, we must follow the K sign all along.

• From Bódvaszilas railway station we reach Bódvarákó via asphalt.
• We ascend from the village close to the Martonyi monastery ruins.
• We descend to Tornabarakony.
• On the far side of a hill ridge, Rakacaszend is our next stop.
• The road leads across another hilltop to Irota.
• From Irota we climb to Felsővadász.
• On the far side of the hill comes Nyésta.
• Soon we arrive at Abaújszolnok.
• We touch the edge of Baktakék.
• We visit Fancsal in the next valley.
• We walk through Encs.
• Our next target is Gibárt.
• From Gibárt we follow the Hernád to Hernádcéce.
• Starting from Hernádcéce, we touch the Boldogkőváralja railway station, finally ending the section in Boldogkőváralja.

Detailed description of the route

Bódvaszilas - Tornabarakony

We leave Bódvaszilas behind following the industrial sidings leading south. After crossing the tracks we turn left, then after a hundred meters right onto an agricultural road, which is well passable and crosses the Bódva on a safe bridge. On the other side, turning right, we reach the Juhász stream and the old industrial siding, continuing on which we arrive under the truncated cone Esztramos. Mining once operated in the mountain uncovered the Rákóczi cave, which can be visited all year round. Bypassing the Esztramos mountain mass, we arrive at the hamlet of Bódvarákó at the foot of the Szalonna Mountains, where we find the metal box with the stamp on the fence at 23 Szabadság Street. We pass through the one-street village with front and side-towered houses, and 600 meters beyond the far end, after leaving the ruined houses and the animal farm, we turn left.

Soon a very long and steep climb follows, at the end of which we reach the ridge, Balogh Pál fallow field. From here we can take a short detour along a sloping bulldozing road next to the ruins of the Martonyi monastery. The reconstruction of the Háromhegy Palos church and monastery founded in 1341 was completed in recent years. We climb back to the wooded, undulating ridge. Soon we reach the Mile hill peak (405 m), from where we leave the karst area behind on sloping roads. Beyond the young pine forest of Slokk Peak, we reach the asphalt road, turn right there and descend all the way to Tornabarakony. The village, deserted during the Turkish era, was later populated by Ruthenian settlers but nowadays it is hardly inhabited again.

Tornabarakony - Rakacaszend

We walk down its steeply sloping street to the Greek Catholic church. Opposite the church, on the fence of the parish, we find the stamp. On the road leading out of the settlement, we soon cross the Barakony stream, and walking along the edge of arable fields and forest rows, we climb up to the ridge of Barakony hill on the dirt road. On the way, we pass a small 'shrine' built in honor of Mary, then after the enclosure pine forest with high stands, we soon enter the forest. While the Szalonna Mountains were mostly characterized by Triassic limestone and dolomite, here on the surface of the Tornai Hills younger Quaternary sediments dominate (clay, sand). Our dirt road in the pine forest forks several times on the ridge.

Heading left from the tree-shrub meadow road, we already see Rakacaszend settled in the Rakaca valley basin. In the village, there is now only one stamping place at the corner grocery store (the other was at a family house but unfortunately the elderly owners taking care of the stamp have passed away). Crossing the Rakaca, we head to the southern part of the settlement. On a height, visible from the outside as well and under monument protection, stands the Reformed church built in the 12th century but often modified over time. Inside, the original painted wooden ceiling and medieval fresco remains can still be seen.

Rakacaszend - Felsővadász

We walk on the exposed, barren slope towards Kopasz hill (268 m). The young, bushy forest section is crossed several times by the dirt road. Going upward, the light gray rock of the famous Rakaca marble appears under our feet and alongside the road in various sized pebbles and blocks. Leaving the pine-covered protrusion of György pada on the right, we arrive almost flat at Isten-töltés, from where we descend on the adjacent dirt road to Kocsma-láp. From here, heading south-southeast, we reach the edge of Kecske-pad. At the fork, we start southwards, then after a few hundred meters we enter a narrow forest ranger road leading to the young Boros forest, which later turns into dirt road. We reach the fields from where we can already see the settlement of Irota. We descend into the valley of Vadász stream (which is almost impassable in rainy, muddy weather), then arrive crossing a small wooden bridge to Irota. The small hamlet nestled in the heart of Cserehát is famous not only for houses with traditional folk architectural forms but also for the Greek Catholic church standing on the hill above the village known for the iconostasis. The new stamp site placed in May 2025 can be found on the Kézművesház next to the blue trail information board.

Through the village center, we start climbing on the Vesszős side. Climbing between a fence and a forest strip, continuing to follow the fence eastwards, we detour around a ploughed field on the right. Upon reaching the forest strip, our dirt road bends right and gently rises along the forest strip to enter the Cinceg forest area. From here, we continue in the forest, and arriving at the saddle before Grajcár peak, we start descending on a dirt road surrounded by arable fields until we reach the dirt road heading north out of Felsővadász. Within a few minutes, we are in the village. The stamp can be obtained at the Mayor's Office on the corner of Ady Endre and Dózsa György streets, or moving further along the blue trail, it can also be stamped at the private house at 3 Rákóczi Street. The two-story Rákóczi castle in Felsővadász, built in the 16th century, was a fortified castle. In its garden, we can see a fern tree.

Felsővadász - Baktakék

We leave Felsővadász along Hunyadi street but do not turn south after the castle as before. The street turns into a dirt road, passing through agricultural and wooded areas. We reach Nyésta from the north on the main street. Turning left before the church, then walking along the bike path after the settlement past arable fields, we enter among the trees. On the ridge, the road breaks right, then after 100-150 steps turns left onto a path, and crossing the meadow and the forest strip, we see Abaújszolnok. The stamp can be found on the fence of the private house at 4 Rákóczi Street.

Above the village, we walk along the long arable ridge, then higher up grazed, grassy, and wooded areas alternate. In the young acacia forest, upon reaching the ridge, we continue straight, then passing the newly built Katalin lookout, exit to an orchard-fruit area. Moving parallel along the fence, we soon enter the houses of Baktakék, where Béke street leads down to the center. Here, with a short detour to the left, we reach the stamp located on the terrace of the municipal building.

Baktakék - Boldogkőváralja

After leaving the village, we cross the fields. Then after orchards and arable lands, we reach the country road on the access road of Tóbiás farm. After a thousand steps, at the right curve on the hill, we continue straight on the dirt road into the forest. Crossing the asphalt on the ridge, we descend to the main street of Fancsal. In the village, we find the Kéktúra stamp at Tornyos pub, and in front of it on a private fence. We leave the village crossing an orchard, then descend along grassy slopes from the wide hilltop. Soon we see the buildings of Abaújdevecser. We cross a major transport route, the M30 motorway, by a pedestrian-bike underpass near Encs. Upon entering the town, we can visit two stamp sites: immediately after the underpass at the bus stop, and crossing the tracks and turning right at the railway station (a 500 m detour). From Encs, we head towards Gibárt where stamping is available at the entrance of the Vasmacska Bar on the main street. Before reaching the river, with a small detour, we can visit the industrial monument built in 1903, the Gibárt Hydropower Plant, which is visitable by prior appointment.

We cross the Hernád on the bridge, then leave the country road at the monument of the hydropower plant to a quieter road. We climb up the hill, then returning to the country road, at one hairpin turn we turn north and walk on the dirt road to Alsócéce, where we find the stamp box on the stone fence of the house at 4 Petőfi Street. Finally, crossing the Szerencs stream, we enter Boldogkőváralja, where the stamp site is at the railway station at the edge of the village, and upon entering the village, from there a detour on the blue L mark, we find it in the lower cashier building of the Boldogkő Castle. The castle - whose history goes back to the 13th century - was built on the Miocene andesite tuff of Bodókő hill. The conquest of the castle hill marks the beginning of our adventures in the Zemplén Mountains.