Matrafuered - Kékestető (pot modri križ)

Access to the starting point:
From Budapest, head east on the motorway towards Nyiregyhaza. After about 90 kilometres, leave the motorway at the Gyoengyoes/Matrafured exit. Continue into Gyoengyoes, then at a marked junction continue north towards Matrafuered. When you arrive in the town, turn left into the first street (Beke ut) and park.

Path description:
The route starts at the main crossroads in Matrafuered, where there is also a sports and mountaineering base (Hegyes sportok bazisa) and a bus stop (Palyaudvar). We go down and see the first markings at the electricity pylon (in Hungary the markings are slightly different, with a white frame and a cross or triangle in a particular colour inside). The path that will lead us to our destination is marked with a blue cross.
The route continues along the asphalt road, which follows the Somor stream. After 100 metres, the green and red trails branch off to the left, and we continue straight ahead, walking on the asphalt for about 5 minutes, before continuing on a steeper path. When the slope ends, a path marked blue triangle branches off to the right downhill (the path continues along the valley of the Somor stream), and we continue ahead and climb up to the ruins of Benevar Castle.
Here the path rejoins the road and continues through a more sparse forest. The path climbs gently and crosses a forest road a little higher up. At the top of the sparse forest, the view opens up towards the town of Gyoengyoes and the plain to the south.
Once back in the dense forest, a short path branches off to the right towards the cliffs of Remete Barlang. The path continues to climb gently and after a while leads to the first pine forest and then a clearing. From the clearing we get our first view of the large TV tower at the top. Above the clearing, the path returns to the forest and starts to climb steeply. Here, the path marked red cross (the path from Matrahaza village) joins from the left and then the path marked blue triangle. Then cross the asphalt road 3 times, leading to the summit (in the part of the way between the crossings, the path leads past the water reservoir and the spring of Javoros). When you reach the parking lot at a higher altitude, you will see the ski slope and several buildings in front of you. Continue along the asphalt road, which takes you almost to the top. A minute below the summit, leave the asphalt and walk along a forest path to the highest peak in Hungary (Kekes / Kékestető).
There is a sculpture at the top and a ski slope around the summit. As the summit is mostly forested, we have a beautiful view to the south-west, where we can see Bidimpest and Galya Peak, the second highest peak in Hungary. To the north-west you can see the Karancs and the view towards Slovakia.

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