GEMENC

The Gemenc area of the national park lies on the borders of Bács-Kiskun and Tolna provinces, in Baranya province along the Danube, between the mouth of the Sió canal and the Southern country border. Its picturesque beauty is there for all tourists to enjoy. Its floodplain is interlaced with narrow, partly natural canals called „fokok”. In the olden days, these ensured water required to flood the inner areas, thus ensuring life for the forest and livelihood for the farmers. The river’s floodplain is mainly characterised by hydropipers and soft- and hardwood groves. Here we can find the summer snowflake, the scilla flower and the wild vine. Prominent gems of its fauna are the protected kingfisher, the osprey, the black stork and the saker falcon. The Gemenc region is famous for its population of red deer and wild boar, thus making it one of the country’s most significant hunting areas.

Life on the floodplain exhibition – Gemenc-Bárányfok

The hunting castle of Archduke Frigyes is located on the Danube floodplain in the Gemenc region. The building was constructed from larch and served to present hunting trophies at the Budapest Millennium Exhibition. After this, the building moved location and changed function a number of times. It came to Bárányfok in the 1980’s and has remained here ever since. The interior has an intimate atmosphere and you can find dioramas presenting the natural and cultural-historical treasures of the Danube floodplain, along with old pictures and personal belongings. Habitats and life situations that are normally hidden from human view unfold, and long disappeared floodplain crafts come to life. The exhibition can only be visited within a Gemenc professional guided tour. Advance booking is required.

Programmes

Guided tours with experts
The Gemenc region can be visited freely as long as the visitors use the tourist tracks and learning trails. The route of the South Transdanubian Rockenbauer Pál Blue tour is located here. It is significant on a national level. In order to gain deeper understanding of the region, a professional guide should be requested.

Professional guides for all areas or for the learning tracks can be requested.
Price: groups up to 20 people HUF 8500/1-4 hours, HUF 17000/5-8 hours,
Above 20 people HUF 425/person/1-4 hours, HUF 850/person/5-8 hours

Upon request, our colleagues can visit kindergartens, schools and other educational facilities for presentations, work-shops and projections in order to aid people in forming a nature protection approach and active attitudes. 
Price: HUF 8000/occasion

Bárányfok learning track
The Bárányfok learning track teaches us about the lower and higher lying areas of the floodplain. The shrub undergrowth’s most characteristic plant is the bloodtwig dogwood. The higher lying areas boast English oaks, elms, ashes and hedge maples along our trail. We can see distinctive wild boar diggings everywhere; it seems as if the floodplain has been hoed in certain areas. If we mind our step and our very cautious, we can see wild animals on the hunt between the willows at the Szilágyi-fok. Here, we can also see wild animals quenching their thirst and almost always we can observe the grey heron or the great egret. The forest train is very popular amongst visitors. It is well-worth it to get on the train after our walk along the learning track. For further information concerning programmes, hiking possibilities and the forest train, please contact Gemenc Zrt.

Lake Malomtelelő learning track
To get to the Malomtelelő learning track please follow the blue-cross-route from Lassi or take the narrow-gauge railway. At the once historically significant natural habitats, there are signs to present what the area looked like before the Danube’s regularisation. In the days when the main line of the Danube flowed through the Rezét-Danube bed, Lake Malomtelelő offered shelter to the wooden watermills from the crushing ice on the river. Along our walk, we can learn more about forestry and wild-life management. From the bird-watching tower we can almost always see protected species, but when it is migration time, the view is simply tremendous with large groups of black and white storks and herons getting ready for their long travels. Do not forget to bring your binoculars!
When you get to the embankment please check the Water Conservancy Museum, which is located 2-3 km north from Malomtelelő. Here, water pumps and lift stations that were once designed and built with great precision, are a real delicacy for those that love old machines. Crossing the Cserta-Danube over a wooden bridge, we get to the Old-Danube’s shores. Walking here, it is hard to believe that „beaver homes” are located under our feet. Watchful visitors can take out their binoculars and investigate the beaver-chewn willows on the opposite shore.

Nyék Danube backwater learning track
Following the most southern learning track of the Gemenc region we can learn about wild-life, its management and our rehabilitation work that is carried out in cooperation with the WWF.  The world of the protected Nyék-Holt-Danube, with its aquatic plants and reedy areas is best observed from the bird-watching tower.

Szeremle Danube backwater learning track
To get to the track that presents the flora and fauna of the Pandúr island, you first have to cross a transportation-historical and water conservancy monument; the Ferenc canal sluice. It was created as part of the canal between the Danube and the Tisza River, under the guidance of István Türr. When the country crumbled, it lost the transit role that it was meant to fulfil.