Abant Lake (Gölü) in the nature park next to Bolu
- Written by Portal Editor
If you pass along the Black Sea coast road near Bolu, you will reach Abant Lake, which is called Abant Gölü in Turkish after approx. 34 kilometres southwest of Bolu.
Due to the constant up and down of the road course, one easily loses the feeling for the height and so we are surprised when we found out that we were already at 1,350 meters above sea level.
The lake is beautifully embedded in a natural park, overgrown with spruce and pine trees, covers an area of 1,150 hectares and was placed under nature protection on October 21, 1988.
Clean nature and endemic fish species
The Abant Lake itself is just about 18 meters deep at an area of 125 hectares. Thanks to nature conservation, the water is clear and clean despite the fact that the park is used by tourists who find both overnight accommodation and resting places as day trippers from the nearby cities. Small hotels and restaurants are available around the lake. As is often the case in Turkey, there are a variety of entertainment options for guests, but nature conservation is always in the watched carefully.
In recent years, something like fishing tourism has developed on Lake Abant, which has grown into a flourishing source of income, because there is a special feature at the lake that is highly valued by fishermen: the trout Salmo trutta abanticus. It is so much special because the Salmo trutta abanticus is endemic to Ababt Lake and Suluklu Lake, meaning that it only occurs here worldwide.
Springs and tributaries of Lake Abant
The lake is supplied with fresh water from several sources in the ground, plus the inflow of melt water from the mountains from the area and of course from rainwater. The cleanliness of the water combined with the beautiful landscape gives the region a real attraction, which is increasingly being used as a recreation area. In addition, there is the lush, flourishing vegetation, which makes the lake and the nature park one of the cleanest regions in Turkey.
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