Létavértes – Halápi csárda (AK-10)

In Létavértes, we stamp with the Blue Trail stamp on the board in front of the outpatient clinic on the main road, then head north, leaving the town center behind while walking on the right sidewalk of Baross Street. Upon reaching the edge of the town, we turn left at the "Y" junction towards the railway station, then after 250-300 steps we turn right onto field bike tracks.

Heading northwest, we cut across the field, and after about 200 steps these join a well-trodden sandy road. From here begins the world of sand, which continues through Hajdúság and Nyírség all the way to the Tisza River. We only recommend exploring this almost 200 km long section on foot, as biking here is very challenging!

We pass lonely farms, then after about a ten-minute walk, we reach a junction. Turning right, we enter vineyards and wine cellars. Beware! The sign also indicates the Kepecs-tag farmstead, which we will pass later, but we must resist the temptation to continue along the tempting short distance marked on the sign, as then we would miss the Álmosd (Blue-Kálló Valley) stamping place at the end of a long detour!

After the right turn, we pass between houses and wine cellars. After about one kilometer, we reach the main road and go north for about a hundred steps, then turn right onto another sandy road.

Here the vineyards and wine cellars continue, and a few minutes later we reach the thatched country house. After about a thousand steps, we turn right in the settlement. We head southeast for about five hundred steps among gardens, then passing by a forest patch, we turn left. After 70-80 steps, at the next junction, we turn left again and cross among the trees. On the far side of this small forest patch, enclosed gardens and small houses appear again. We walk along the sandy road past increasingly sparsely standing farms, then after a few minutes, we reach the edge of the settlement. At the junction, turning right, we enter a particularly soft and sandy road. Here we are already on the edge of the forested plains, looking to the left along a long line of grass-covered sand dunes. After two hundred steps, at the next junction, we turn left and start the journey through the hump-sea.

Starting from the southern corner of a huge field bordered by forests, the sandy bike tracks roughly follow the southeastern edge of the forest, never venturing far from the trees. We walk along the edge of the forest and climb every grass-covered sand dune in our path. These are not very high: perhaps only 6-8 meters rolling beneath us, but dozens of sand hills already mean a significant ascent! This is a characteristic Hajdúság, Nyírség landscape with grass-held moving sand dunes, sandy acacias, and oak woods. (Until 2015, the Alföld Blue Trail led on asphalt from Létavértes to Álmosd; it was then replaced with this sandy dune area to avoid boring asphalt walking.)

After about a kilometer, we reach the forest where we can finally walk under the shade of the crowns of acacia trees over the road, although the sandy road and dunes persist among the trees. After twenty minutes, we leave the forest behind. Again, we are on the edge of grassy plains, with the road winding under the edge trees. We trot for more than a kilometer under the burning sun on the sandy road, then return to the forest. After about eight hundred steps, bike tracks join from the right. From here, in about twenty-five minutes, we reach the point where our previously roughly northbound road at a junction suddenly turns sharply left and almost backward, heading southwest. The Blue Trail stamp box can be found at the Gyorkány Hill sign OKK board at the junction.

After stamping, we continue in the forest for the first twenty-twenty-five minutes, then reach the plains again. We walk about five hundred steps along the forest edge, rounding a curved forest corner. We have to be alert here as we have to turn left along barely visible bike tracks to cross the sandy dune field. If the direction is correct, after a few steps, we cross a small stream on a plank and then set off across the grassy field.

Heading roughly south-southwest, our first target is a small group of trees we need to cut through, keeping the direction. If the tracks disappear beneath us, no problem: set your sights on the forest corner protruding into the plain ahead of us, which we will see once reached with well-trodden sandy bike tracks. From here, we just follow the tracks. Again, we are along the forest edge, and after about six hundred steps, at a "Y" junction, we choose the tracks heading right to remain on the edge of the plain. Climbing to the top of a larger mound, we spot the well-maintained and still inhabited building of the former Pungurhegy school.

We pass the house, then enter a slightly more varied area. Scattered farms appear along the road; grassy plains alternate with arable and cultivated lands. At the dense network of junctions, always choose the bike tracks heading southwest! After a little more than half an hour, we reach the main road, which we cross straight. Here we're just over two kilometers from the point where we first crossed this road!

We still walk through a forest patch for a while, then come out into fields and meadows. After crossing an avenue, we see a forested hillside on the far side of the next field. Crossing the meadow, we head straight toward the edge trees, reaching them in a few minutes. On a terribly soft, sinking sandy road, we climb to the top and descend on the western side, exiting the forest right at the edge of the next field, reaching the Kepecs-tag farmstead. The road goes straight through the buildings and enclosures. If we want to stamp, we have to turn a few steps right off the road to the slightly battered information board set up next to the fence of the outermost enclosure because the stamp box is attached to one of its posts.

After stamping, we cross the farm road and re-enter the fields. After the last buildings, after about five hundred steps, we reach a "T" junction. Here we turn right, north, onto less used bike tracks. Due to our huge southern detour, rarely painted K◼ signs lead back south toward the still close Létavértes (to the junction we passed among the wine cellars).

The next section follows almost unused paths and bike tracks. Pay close attention to the rarely painted signs! First, we reach the southern end of a long meadow, walking along a narrow grassy strip among trees. At the end, we cross a wooded strip and arrive at the southern corner of another field on the far side. After 70-80 steps along the left trees, we should notice very faint tracks turning left and leading through the wooded strip.

Here, at the edge of the other field, there is no obvious path ahead. We must continue roughly west-southwest, targeting a selected point in the forest bordering the field. After about four hundred steps, we reach the bank of the Monostori-ér ditch just before the trees. We must notice a small bridge crossing it, if our direction has been roughly right. Crossing the bridge and entering the trees, the grassy bike track emerges beneath us. We wind through the forest clearing along the path. At the far edge, we get onto a meadow again. Several tracks cross here; we have to roughly cut northwest, climbing a low hillock. Beneath the trees, more distinct bike tracks turn down toward us, and we step onto them entering the forest at the top edge of the meadow. From here, our path will be well traceable again, and blue markings painted on trees will become more frequent.

We turn west among the trees, walking through a forest opening, reaching a "T" junction after about a thousand steps. Here, turning right north, we continue amid forest patches and fields. The key is to keep to the well-passable sandy bike tracks approximately pointing north despite branching and crossing tracks! After about half an hour’s walk, we catch sight of the buildings of the Csohostó forest farmstead on the left of the road, which we pass. Then, turning northeast together with the road, we return within the trees.

The forest bike tracks mostly lead north and become increasingly overgrown. When they bend northwest, the forest thickens, and we only occasionally see small arable fields or meadows beside the road. About half an hour after Csohostó, the bike tracks bend west-southwest, and then after about two hundred steps, the K signs turn us right onto barely used, heavily overgrown bike tracks! In summer, this almost one-thousand-step stretch is a real jungle fight; we even sweep spider webs from the overgrown path because only Blue Trail hikers use this route. Fortunately, after a while, we reach the sandy bike tracks leading from the former Patkány-Szűcs farmstead and continue on them.

Here, the forests thin out slightly: most of the route goes through meadows, mowed fields, and cultivated land; behind us are a few farms set a little further from the road. After a little less than half an hour, a wide sandy road turns from the right. We continue on this one, now back in the forest. After some time, the forest road veers from northwest to southwest, and we arrive at the fenced plot of the Két Tölgy Guesthouse indicated as a resort on our map, in front of which on an OKK route signpost beside the road we find the Blue Trail stamp.

From here ends the shady forest section: more and more clear-cut areas and logging patches appear beside our path. After about half an hour, we reach the next junction where we turn left, south-southwest, again mostly in the forest. Although blue markings are not dense, we can rely on the slightly winding road, which is hard to get lost on. At the end of a completely uneventful, about one-hour stretch, we arrive at the busy, recently widened and resurfaced 4814 main road between Debrecen and Létavértes, which we cross, then continue right along the edge toward Debrecen. We do not stay long on the shoulder: we pass the vacant plot of the former Ludas csárda and after about 600 steps, turn left into the trees.

We reach a small forest unloading area in a few dozen steps. The tracks turn right and run parallel to the main road we just left. After a few minutes, we reach the edge of the old forest and the road continues through a young acacia plantation only a few years old – in summer, quite overgrown! Only by pushing aside the still thin young branches can we pass. Fortunately, this road is not too long and after a few minutes merges into another, broader bike track on the far side of the acacia plantation leading from the main road.

Here again, well-trodden sandy bike tracks are under our boots, lasting quite a long way. Roughly maintaining the southwest direction, we walk a long stretch between fields and forest patches. After about one hour, we reach another junction where, abandoning our southwest direction, we turn right west. After about 300 steps, we reach the forest edge, where the sandy road following the outermost trees bends right north, but we must not follow it! We must continue straight on barely visible tracks, walking about 500 steps along the southern edge of the field on barely visible footprints, then enter the trees at the next forest corner. Crossing the forest patch, meadows follow, and after about one thousand steps, at the next forest patch, a gravel road turns under us, and we continue on it. After 7-800 steps, we reach the 4808 main road between Debrecen and Hosszúpályi.

The blue markings do not turn onto the asphalt but just before it turn right back into the forest. We can stamp near the Katihíd bus stop at the information board. However, if we want to rest by the lake, we must walk about 350 meters along the edge of the asphalt road to reach the shore.

If we do not detour toward the lake, we do not have to go onto the asphalt but turn back into the forest at the Kati-ér bank. The ditch side bike tracks might still be passable in spring but by mid-summer overgrown with vegetation, making forward progress a real jungle fight! To the left is a deep ditch, and to the right stretches the forest; we have only a few meters’ wide strip between them and cannot go around. We must struggle for more than a kilometer. It will be a relief to turn right away from the water when we soon reach a gravel forest road. Heading right south on it, after a few hundred steps, the bank of the Mézeshegyi Lake appears. At the sharp bend here, we find the alternative stamping place if we have not already stamped earlier.

Turning left off the gravel, we set off on the waterside bike tracks heading northeast. If lucky, we can admire the reed-bordered lake surface. The water level is rather erratic: depending on the precipitation during the given season, in drier weather it practically dries up, but in wetter periods, it quickly fills up.

There are several lakes in the area. Their purpose, designed in the 1970s, was to create a recreational area for the growing population of Debrecen, where people seeking relaxation and entertainment could find everything needed for a getaway. Unfortunately, over the years, many features have disappeared, from the Vekeri lookout tower to the lakeside pioneer camp; people's needs have also changed in recent decades. Nowadays, only fishermen use the lakes. Reeds and rushes slowly overtake them; most lose their lake characteristics entirely, blending into the landscape – only their dams remind us of their artificial nature. On our route, we will pass several reservoirs: after Mézeshegyi Lake, the Fancsika lakes come next, and finally, we can visit the Bodzás reservoir.

After the lake promenade, turning away from the water, we return to the same gravel road we passed earlier for a few hundred steps. Heading northeast along the eastern edge of a clearing, the forest trees converge over the road again. After about one kilometer, we reach another clearing with young rows of saplings. At its edge, at the junction, we turn left, then after about one hundred fifty steps, turn right onto a sinking sandy road running among several years old rows of saplings heading north-northeast. From here, we re-enter the old forest. To the right among the trees, we occasionally glimpse arable lands, then pass a farm facility and emerge onto fields. Passing horse farms' stables and enclosed paddocks, we reach the recently widened and resurfaced road between Debrecen and Létavértes, where we already passed the former Ludas csárda plot.

The route of the Alföld Blue Trail here turns right, heading southeast and leads along the main road for a short distance to the Bánki Reformed Primary School building, where we turn left off the road. At the corner of the school fence, on a tree, you will find the stamp.

If time allows, you can make a detour to visit the Bánki arboretum. The park gate is only 1-1.5 km walking from the stamping place. (Incidentally, another Blue Trail stamp can be found at the gate opening from the arboretum parking lot.)

After stamping, return to the junction where we arrived coming from the Vekeri Lake side. Following the signs, after about two hundred steps, we reach a sandy road turning left that runs along the edge of a field for 700 steps. Then the forest swallows us again, and after a few minutes, we arrive at the edge of Bánk's weekend housing area. We cross the Derecskei-Kálló canal bridge, then turn immediately left between the outer gardens and the stream.

Following the winding canal bank road, we reach the end of the weekend houses after about fifteen minutes. Here, a bridge crosses the canal again and we continue along the left bank. After ten minutes, we climb a grassy slope dam. Another small lake appears ahead: this is the romantically named Fancsika-III reservoir. Similar to Mézeshegyi Lake, its water level fluctuates strongly: in dry periods, it is likely just a rush and reed-covered depression inside the dam.

We pass the reservoir’s eastern side on the right, then continue past the Fancsika-II reservoir. For a short time, a narrow asphalt road runs under us, but soon ends, leaving only the now familiar sandy forest road beneath us. About twenty minutes after the junction, at the edge of a young forest plantation, at another junction, we turn right east and for a while return to the old forest again.

Later we leave the forest behind and cross the Bodzás-ér ditch on a small bridge. In the shade of a roadside tree line accompanying our path, we cut across fields, then enter another forest patch. Although the signs are not very dense, they still guide us well on this section. Leaving the mentioned junction and continuing, after about twenty-five minutes, we reach the last forest lake on our path, the Bodzás reservoir. In the southern corner of the lake, on a nature protection sign, we find the Blue Trail stamp. We walk along the winding dam on the lake’s southern shore, then continue along the canal embankment. At the sluice closing the canal, we turn onto a sandy road crossing it and head north.

A completely uneventful road begins here. First, the heavily sandy road winds north under us, then at a junction, turning right, we head northeast. After about an hour of forest walking from the sluice, we reach the railway track between Debrecen and Nyírábrány. Crossing the rails, we continue along the forest strip and emerge onto the busy Main Road 48. At the bus stop on the opposite side, heading east, after a few minutes, we reach the wide, softly sinking sandy road leading to the former Halápi csárda.

Near Debrecen, we pass two "former" csárdas on our hike. Only the site of Ludas csárda remains, but the Halápi csárda still stands, although it has been closed for years. Like many of its kind, these buildings were built in the 18th century; Halápi csárda opened its doors in 1778 along the then busy main route connecting Debrecen and Szatmárnémeti. This was a genuine highwayman’s inn: allegedly, a tunnel was built from the building into the surrounding forest to help the outlaws drinking there escape if the police appeared. After World War II, the csárda became collective farm property. They set up mixed and fodder shops there; milk collected from nearby farms was transported to Debrecen from the dairy established here. After the dissolution of collectives and privatization, the shops were liquidated, and finally, the csárda itself closed down.

The Blue Trail stamp marking the end of our route is found on the information board in front of the former csárda.