Eger and Its Surroundings - Natural Resources

The Mátra Mountains
Picturesque valleys and peaks, oak forests providing shade in summer, enigmatic mountain tops hidden in the autumn mist, fast flowing spring streams, winter ski-slopes in romantic environment, healing climate- all these make up the many faces of the Mátra.

In the Mátra Mountains a 600-km-long network of marked tourist paths helps hikers and tourists in their orientation. Anybody can easily climb the highest peak in Hungary, the 1014-metre-high Kékes- only birds can get higher in this country.

The popular places for mountain holidays and targets of recreational hikes are Mátraháza, Galyateto and Ágasvár, which boasts with a spectacular view. Between Mátrafüred and Mátraháza lies Sástó, where boating and fishing facilities and a 50-metre-high look-out tower await the visitor.

Mátrafüred
The town of Mátrafüred is a popular holiday destination of the Mátra Mountains and can be reached from Gyöngyös also with narrow-gauge railway. The most important spectacles are the Castle of Bene, Sástó and the look-out tower. The lake of Sástó is situated 520 metres above sea level and is the highest situated lake in Hungary. It can be used for boat rides and fishing all year around. The lake is natural, and was created by water confluence.

The Bükk Mountains
The Bükk Mountains form a part of the Northern Mountain Range of Hungary and it is the highest average-height mountain in the country: its highest peak is Istállós-ko (959 metres). It owes its exceptionally rich geological resources to the many different types of rocks and strong crustal movements in the area.

The mountain's central area is the Bükk plateau which is the largest and most beautiful limestone plateau in Hungary. In the Bükk Mountains there are 900 underground caves and in many of them wonderful dripstone creations can be found. Other interesting spectacles are the seasonal springs in the southern part of the Bükk, namely the Imó-ko-spring and the Vörös-ko-spring. The mountain's flora and fauna are extremely diversified.

Felsotárkány - The Gate to the Bükk Mountains
This Palots settlement lies in the Tárkányi basin between Várhegy and Orhegy at the gate to the Bükk Mountains, in the north-east of Heves County, three kilometres from Eger. On a well-maintained bicycle path leading from Eger the visitor can reach a little pond feeding on the Szikla-spring, and from here a narrow-gauge railway runs up to the Egeres-valley horse farm and to the Vörösko-valley forest path.

Szalajka Valley
The valley is part of the village Szilvásvárad and is one of the Bükk Mountains' and indeed the whole country's most beautiful valleys of alpine character. The spectacles in the Szalajka Valley are: Cliff Spring, Museum of Forestry, Veil Waterfalls, Open-air Forest Museum, trout ponds, the cave of prehistoric man at Istállósko and the path leading to the Kalapat-top look-out tower. Sziklaforrás, Erdészati múzeum, Fátyol Vízesés, Szabadtéri Erdei Múzeum, pisztrángos tavak, Istállóskoi osemberbarlang, tanösvény a kalapat tetoi kilátóhoz.

Lake Tisza
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