Boldogkőváralja - Nagy-nyugodó (OKT-26)

Itinerary

During the route, we must follow the K marking all the way.

• We walk from the railway station to Boldogkőváralja.
• From the settlement, we go to Arka.
• From Arka, we walk to Mogyoróska, then to Regéc.
• From Regéc, we reach the István-kút hunting lodge by forest hike.
• From the hunting lodge, we head to the Eszkála forester’s lodge.
• Our next stop is Makkoshotyka.
• From the village, we go to the Nagy-Nyugodó saddle, finishing the section near Sátoraljaújhely.

Detailed description of the route

Boldogkőváralja railway station – Boldogkőváralja

From the railway station, after crossing the Szerencs brook, we walk through the fields towards the increasingly rising castle buildings. The abandoned railway line carries an unfortunate historical transportation heritage: the track bypasses the villages by kilometers (to which the stops belong) because at the time of construction, the local landowners did not allow the railway to cross their land.

The relatively well-preserved Boldogkő Castle sits on a silicified tuff rock above the landscape. In the early phase of the Tokaj Mountains' formation, enormous explosions shook the land: violent eruptions scattered vast amounts of volcanic debris, including tuff. Later, the tuff cover was altered by silica-rich solutions coming from the depths, cementing it into hard rock. Selective erosion wore down the surrounding softer layers, emphasizing the rock on which the castle controlling the Hernád valley was built in the 13th century. A bastion stood on the small ridge; today, there is a viewing terrace reachable via a wooden boardwalk at its place.

Boldogkőváralja – Regéc

Circumventing the castle hill, we enter the territory of the Tokaj Mountains through the village side street and initially follow the Arka brook deeply cut into the edge slopes on an asphalt road. The forested valley's sides are occasionally interrupted by abandoned quarries before arriving at the small basin of Arka at the end of a narrower section. The neat, tidy village lies in an idyllic environment and, like many surrounding settlements, is becoming an increasingly popular resort.

We move a bit away from the brook to descend back to the water flow beside an unpleasant thicket along the edge of a former orchard. Our path crosses the stream multiple times; the valley narrows gorge-like in the central section. The terrain is wild, with rocky mountain slopes and dense, dark beech forests. Our long valley walk ends on a small plateau hiding Mogyoróska and Regéc in its two "basins." We pass through abandoned pastures and finally through a forest arching over the brook to reach Mogyoróska. Walking the village’s rising main street, we approach the Regéc Castle Hill, whose peak and side cones tower between the two villages.

From its immediate surroundings sharply rising, the rhyolite-built Castle Hill’s skirt we cross layers and finally reach a low ridge where the marks split toward the castle. The fortress built at the end of the 13th century played a significant role in Hungarian history until the end of the 17th century and was for some time the treasury of the Rákóczis. It was eventually demolished by imperial order. Today, significant parts are being reconstructed, and the panorama to the central, forested parts of the Tokaj Mountains is one of the most beautiful in the region. On clear days, from the dining terrace before the entrance, one can see far to the ridge of the Kojsói mountains above Košice, and the gently rolling hills of the Cserehát appear. We descend to Regéc by forest walk, where we can stamp at the somewhat surprisingly styled visitor center, in the Veronika pension, or at the column in front of the Csobogó guesthouse.

Regéc – István-kút

Leaving the village, we climb through the valley of Puskás brook. The forest suddenly becomes particularly wild, as huge moss-covered boulders and cliffs form a small stone sea. At the Bekecs meadow, we arrive at the edge of the vast Dorgó pine forest, take a right turn, and descend into a small saddle. From one point, at the edge of a clearing, we look out towards the Milic group and the Hegyköz basin. We bypass Tokár Peak, and the view turns wild again when the dark, cryoplanation rhyolite rock tower of Pengő-kő appears. The characteristic rocks of the Tokaj Mountains were formed by the fissures of andesite cracked by the freeze-thaw effect of water frozen to ice in the last glacial period. We can climb to the top, but hope for views in vain, as the forest has already swallowed the gloomy andesite columns.

Continuing, we suddenly find ourselves at the edge of a large clearcut in the dark forest and can glimpse to the Bodrog plain. Our forest dirt road takes a sharp left bend; shortly, at a meadow opening to the left, we can make a detour on the K▲ mark to Nagy-Péter-mennykő. Don't miss it! First, we cross a waterlogged meadow, then reach a rock formation similar to Pengő-kő in a beautiful old beech forest. From its top opens one of the most beautiful panoramas of the mountain's inner part: we can explore the mountain’s jagged, "bare peaks" system, its long valleys, and in the distance the towering Nagy-Milic behind Füzér Castle.

Continuing on the Blue Trail, we cross another pine forest again; the stream's roar is often heard from the valley. As in much of the country, we can only hike under planted pine patches—climate change will soon force a permanent farewell to them. We leave the forestry road turning left and head downward. The forest changes dramatically as thick birch woods surround us. Here and there, small clearings break the birch curtain, and at the path's bottom stands a white hunting lodge: we arrive at István-kút. A stamp awaits on the information board in front of the lodge.

István-kút – Eszkála forester’s lodge

The tree shows hand-shaped marks indicating the location of the abundant, icy-cold István-kút. Walking further, we soon find ourselves at one of the most atmospheric and special points of the Tokaj Mountains: among Lapland decorations, beside a frog-lily pond in a birch grove, stands the log-built, porch-towered István-kút forestry lodge. Renovations took place in spring 2022, preserving its old form together with the lodge. The strictly protected birch forest is a relic of the post-glacial era: at that climate, this association occupied larger areas, and its small patch in the cool, cauldron-like valley head still thrives today.

A beautiful beech forest covers the forestry road as we wind through the wet Mlaka meadow with typical Tokaj Mountains atmosphere. In the middle, we can rest at a tourist resting place under a group of trees. The S▲ mark leads us through amazing rock formations to one of the most atmospheric spots of the mountain range, atop the Sorrel Ridge's frost-broken rock tower. From the edge of the wild andesite ridge, we can see Regéc Castle and the narrow, mountain-framed valley slopes of Háromhuta.

The Blue Trail continues through more and more clearcuts, unfortunately with an uninviting view. At a pine patch, the K▲ path branches left, on which we can visit Kerek-kő: the oddly colored rock castle is made of rhyolite, uniquely one of the Tokaj Mountain’s building volcanic rocks in our country. A lasting panorama awaits; we observe from the mountain range’s center, surrounded by steep mountains wherever we turn. Only the huge, ugly clearcuts and the extensively used forest spoil the Upper Hungarian-like view. The character of Kerek-kő is further wildered by the cracks, which are a favored sunbathing and habitat place for the locally common cross vipers.

Returning to the K mark, we continue winding through the still "incomplete" forests. We pass the Gerendás meadow junction and shortly after reach the foot of Eszkála forester’s lodge, where we find a stamp on an information board beside the road.

Eszkála forester’s lodge – Makkoshotyka

We descend along a long, gradually lowering ridge closing the Háromhuta valley. A mosaic of planted pine forests, young and middle-aged forest patches surrounds us on Kecske ridge, from where we eventually head downward. We reach the protected meadow of Zsidó-rét: this sun-exposed meadow, created by nearby settlements centuries ago, served as suitable pasture terrain. Today, it is mowed to preserve rare plants and prevent reforestation. On one side, the outer houses of Komlóska are visible. We circle a valley head and reach the spring enclosure of Cifra-kút in a beautiful beech forest below. From here, we reach Makkoshotyka after about half an hour’s forest walk. We find a stamp on the OKK information board at the back gate of Meczner Castle.

Makkoshotyka – Cirkáló-tanya

We briefly follow the village’s main street, then turn right and leave the settlement through the garden of the Meczner Castle built in the early 1900s. After a short bushy forest section, we walk alongside an agricultural field, with our next destination, the unmistakable shape of the Sátoros Mountains group, visible in the distance. In the other direction, Makkoshotyka and Sárospatak appear, with the Bodrog plain dominating the terrain. Crossing the Kovács brook, we pass a clearcut, from which we bid farewell by climbing a ladder on the opposite side.

We arrive by forest road at Cirkáló farm, still inhabited today, with vineyards stretching out on the hillside behind. We find the stamping container on the roof column of the stable.

Cirkáló-tanya – Nagy-Nyugodó

We descend along a wide road to the underbrush base of the Radvány valley, one of the longest nearby valleys, then climb steeply out of it. The eastern hilly part of the middle massif of the Tokaj Mountains is very rich in small springs with low flow, feeding a dense water network. In a saddle, the P mark crosses before we reach the gnarly matriarch Rákóczi tree. The ancient tree is probably the ancestor of younger trees around; during earlier clearcuts, it could have seeded anew as a legacy tree—close inspection reveals its survival is also supported by humans.

Approaching the Sátoros Mountains, we skirt increasingly steep slopes. The dense, barely flowing lava could not spread; elsewhere, the surface was not reached, creating cone-shaped hills. Deep erosion ditches cut into the foot of slopes are formed by fast-running, seasonal watercourses after heavy rains—we visit three in the next kilometers. We literally have to climb out of the Bancsi pit hollow and occasionally approach the forest edge in a beautiful oak forest, while the hiking trail forces exhausting roller coaster motions. Pandák valley challenges us with a neck-breaking stunt again, but this is the last such trial; the terrain smooths out beyond.

We cross the Bányi saddle's asphalted forest-roofed road and climb the side of Tatárka mountain on our last 1.5 kilometers, then go through a small clearing and attack Kecske ridge. We are already among the Sátoros Mountains on the skirt of the rocky, sometimes harsh-looking heights. In a narrow saddle, we find the National Blue Trail sign and the stamp of Nagy-nyugodó on it.