In today's busy world, nature offers us the perfect escape and an opportunity to recharge our batteries. The village of Družstevná pri Hornád has decided to implement the marking of two tourist circuits that have starting points right in the village. Thanks to it, tourists can move safely and confidently in nature, discover new places and enjoy the beauty of the surrounding landscape. And we helped the village in this endeavor with €3,000 from our grant program Together for the Region.

Peter Kaľavský, project coordinator and deputy of the municipality, talked about the project called Malovieský and Tepličanský hiking trail.

"I got an idea for ​​the project during the pandemic, when I spent a lot of time in the surrounding forests. There was no marked tourist route in the cadastre of the village. It was natural to connect the hiking trails from our village to the already existing hiking trails of the Lemešanské špacírky."

However, the actual marking of tourist routes was preceded by a lot of work. Final determination and approval of routes, clearing of old paths from bushes and invasive trees, or leveling and drainage of one of the sections. The length of the Maloviesky circuit is 5.33 km, Tepličanský is 6.01 km. Going through each one should not take more than 1.5 hours. In total, approximately 20 km of marked routes will be added.
 

Funds from the grant program were used for the processing and production of information boards and directions, as well as for the material necessary for their installation. Two large information boards already stand at the beginning of both hiking trails. 73 pieces of small tables on the pillars contain local names and tourist directions. On the website of the municipality there is a map of hiking trails with a description:

  Local hiking trails - Druzstevna pri Hornade

"This web link has also been used as a QR code, which is placed on the large information boards and on all the small boards with the local name. We have all 73 small tables mounted on poles. We are currently finishing the markings between the pillars. We plan to finish the project as planned, by the end of November. The grant from U.S. Steel Košice was one of the important sources of its financing," said Peter Kaľavský.

Our colleague Peter Zahumenský (in the photo) from the department for information technology was also involved in the implementation. He helped with the marking of points for the placement of signs, as well as with the installation of signs and signposts.

"I live here in Družstevná pri Hornáde. The nature here is beautiful and you will definitely not get lost on our hiking trails. I joke with friends that as a tourist, I have never seen such a densely marked trail. The main idea was to connect the regions - Lemešany in the Prešov region with Družstevná pri Hornáde in the Košice region. I think it worked well."


In the photo from the left: Gabriel Tréfa from the research and development department of the USSK, Peter Kaľavský and Peter Zahumenský