Szarvas – Dévaványa (AK-06)

Itinerary:

Throughout the route, we must follow the K marking.

• Walking on the embankments from Szarvas towards the Hortobágy-Berettyó floodgate.
• From the Hortobágy-Berettyó floodgate, we continue along the main channel embankment to Mezőtúr.
• From Mezőtúr, we also continue on the Hortobágy-Berettyó embankment to the Balai bridge.
• From the Balai bridge, we walk along the embankment all the way to Ecsegfalva.
• From Ecsegfalva, the next destination is Réhely.
• After leaving Réhely, we finish our hiking section in Dévaványa.

Detailed description:

Szarvas – Peresi lock house

The 6th section of the Alföld Blue Trail, rich in landscape and cultural-historical values, connects two towns, Szarvas and Dévaványa. The starting point is in the southwestern part of Szarvas, in Anna-liget at the Körösvölgyi Visitor Centre and Animal Park main entrance. Here is also the first stamp point, but after stamping, it is worth not rushing ahead – before starting the route, during opening hours, we recommend visiting the animal park where native species of the Carpathian Basin are shown in a landscaped environment. In Anna-liget stands the old building of the Csáky Castle, currently home to the Körös–Maros National Park Directorate.

Entering the Alföld Blue Trail path in Anna-liget, after crossing the Ásott-Körös and the Erzsébet-liget transversal, we soon find ourselves on the banks of the Szarvasi-Holt-Körös, in the monument-rich town centre of Szarvas. The settlement lies in the Békési-sík microregion, offering enough sights for several days: its main attractions include the dry mill, arboretum, and Mini Hungary. Before the bridge crossing the backwater, on the promenade beside the Fisherman’s Restaurant, during the Blue Trail hike, we can make a detour to the protected swamp cypresses, planted by Pál Bolza, who also founded the arboretum and Pepi garden. Returning to the bridge, an excellent photo subject rises by the water: the Bolza Castle, built in the early 19th century in a classicist style, and in front of it, the sculpture composition of Romulus and Remus, referring to the Italian origin of the Bolza family. Crossing the bridge, we turn north onto Vajda Péter Street. Here, no less famous monuments await us: on the right, the baroque block of the Tessedik Sámuel Museum adorned with memorial plaques, built in 1791 as Hungary’s first agricultural school. Opposite is the tower of the Evangelical Old Church, finished in 1788 by Tessedik Sámuel, an evangelical pastor, educator, and economic writer. In front of it stands a resettlement memorial commemorating the evangelical Slovak settlers who repopulated Szarvas in 1722. Szarvas and its area became uninhabited after the Ottoman conquest and the Rákóczi War of Independence. The repopulation began in the early 1720s with settlers from Upper Hungary, supported by then landowner János György Harruckern.

The Alföld Blue Trail route turns left before the church onto Bolza Pál promenade, then leads further along the Holt-Körös embankment passing Kacsa Lake. A walk of about 1 km from the lake brings us to the junction of the embankment and Móra Ferenc Street, where it is worth making a short detour to a small hill on the bank of the backwater. On this height stands a four-winged stone mill equipped with sails, inaugurated in 1939, marking the historical centre of Hungary. From the memorial site, we return to the embankment and continue northwards until about 3 km when we reach the embankment of the Hármas-Körös. Heading west on this, we reach the ferry in about 15 minutes that transports us to the right bank of the river. Before departure, check the schedule so as not to wait too long!

After crossing the Hármas-Körös, we proceed along a country road in the floodplain, then at the 2006 record flood memorial, we return to the Körös flood protection embankment. From here to the Hortobágy-Berettyó floodgate, we cover about 10 km on the embankment crown rising between floodplain forests and arable land and pastures on the protected side. Along the way, we cross the Mezőtúr–Szarvas railway track as well as the cut-off branches of the Hármas-Körös made during the regulation. These wetlands are considered pearls of the Mezőtúr–Karcag plain's “blue ribbons.” The river regulation works started in the 19th century also affected the Körös region: the river bends were cut off, and the straightened new watercourse was confined between embankments. Although the area suitable for agriculture increased, the original wetlands became victims of cultivation.

Peresi lock house – Mezőtúr

From the flood memorial, after about 2 hours’ walk, we reach one of the most monumental hydraulic structures of the entire Alföld Blue Trail, the Hortobágy-Berettyó floodgate where the next stamp point is located. The 12-metre-wide floodgate was built between 1940 and 1942 to exclude flood waves arriving from the Körös from the Hortobágy-Berettyó water system. During a meditative walk on the embankment, we can contemplate the formation of the surface of the Mezőtúr–Karcag plain. The area is mainly covered by fine-grained fluvial sediments later mixed with loess. These high-quality clay fluvial formations provided the material for the brick factories of the region and also for the famous potters of Túr. The table-smooth plain is varied by abandoned river beds, oxbows, and Tumulus hills. From the floodgate, we walk about 6.5 km north on the main channel embankment, arriving at Mezőtúr town centre.

It’s worth lingering a little among the monuments of the town once famous for its potters. The main square is Kossuth Lajos Square, its northern edge crossed by the Alföld Blue Trail route. From the park with sculptures, we can take nice photos of the Town Hall, built in an eclectic style in 1928, and the Belvárosi Reformed Great Church, built in a classicist style between 1843 and 1845 and towering opposite. After leaving Kossuth Square, we also continue north along a street named after a famous statesman. We pass in front of the Reformed College building then turn left onto Damjanich Street. We do this because the official stamp point of the Alföld Blue Trail is located at the end of this street, on the outer façade of the Túri Pottery Museum, and while here we can visit the exhibition showcasing the nationwide famous potters from Mezőtúr, housed in the Bolváry Manor built in 1821. On the return along Damjanich Street, take a look at the beautiful building of the synagogue built in 1862, currently home to the City Gallery.

Mezőtúr – Ecsegfalva

The Alföld Blue Trail route meanders through quiet streets on the northern part of the town, then joins the embankment of the Hortobágy-Berettyó main channel. From here, a long stretch of about 34 km along the embankment leads to the Ecsegfalva country road. On the river side of the flood protection structure are smaller and larger floodplain forests; on the protected left side are farmland, homesteads, pastures, and reflections of backwaters alternating with one another. In the distance, the mounds of Tumulus hills and church towers of settlements rise from the monotonous landscape. After about 9 km walking on the embankment, we reach the mouth of the Nagykunság main canal, and then about 5.5 km further, the Balai bridge at the border of Túrkeve. This spans the main channel and houses not only another stamp point (the box placed on the Blue Trail signpost) but also provides a disembarkation option: we can leave the Alföld Blue Trail here towards Túrkeve about 3 km away.

If, however, we choose more “blue adventures,” about 20 km of walking remains to the Ecsegfalva country road, along the heavily winding, now unregulated Hortobágy-Berettyó flood protection embankment. About halfway stands the silhouette of an amorphous stone column at the foot of the embankment: the monument and grave of János Balogh (1913–2002), academician and internationally renowned ecologist, born in the Ecsegpuszta area. After a long walk, we finally reach the Ecsegfalva country road, where we turn right towards the settlement. Soon we cross the embankment of the river, then to the left, at the national park sign, we find the next stamp point of the Alföld Blue Trail.

Walking further, we arrive in Ecsegfalva, which belonged to Dévaványa until 1949 as Pusztaecseg. Although it hides no particular sights, it is worth glancing at the former railway station building on the left side of the Main Street (previous Berettyó Restaurant), as Ecsegfalva was a stop for trains traveling between Dévaványa and Kisújszállás from 1889 to 1973.

Ecsegfalva – Dévaványa

We leave the settlement southeast along the long Main Street. From here, the Blue Trail route winds further on dirt roads in the Réhely plain (Dévaványai-sík microregion), also along the Dévaványa country road for a while. Near Réhely, it turns east onto a minor road leading to a lookout tower. Climbing to the upper level of the wooden structure, the flat salt plain of Réhely spreads out before us, with the buildings of Kisújszállás, Ecsegfalva, and Dévaványa visible in the distance.

The Dévaványai-sík microregion is one of Hungary’s smallest relative relief microregions. This means that its altitude varies only between 84 and 91 m above sea level, so the elevation differences in the area are minimal, an almost perfect flatness. The terrain shaped by the waters of former rivers includes the tangled network of abandoned riverbeds. Near Réhely, we can study the process of salinization and the salt-tolerant salt steppe vegetation. The white salt crust is caused by salts (e.g., sodium carbonate, i.e., soda or saltpeter) rising to the surface with groundwater and crystallizing. From the lookout, we proceed to the Sterbetz István Great Bustard Conservation Visitor Centre, where we can learn not only about the salt steppe wildlife (e.g., Europe’s largest flightless bird, the great bustard) but also stamp our route. The box is located on the fence in front of the ticket office.

The visitor centre’s straight path leads into Dévaványa. Before the town, near a farmstead, the Berek hill rises, an earthwork tumulus built millennia ago. From the ruined triangulation point crowned hilltop, we have a beautiful view of the nearby forests and steppe. Finally, at the end of our section, in Dévaványa, we can stamp at the railway station and travel home if wished, completing our long but varied hike of nearly 80 km, which started in Szarvas.