Engolasters lake, the Andorran lake anyone can reach

Andorra has dozens of lakes, and nearly all of them ask for boots, hours of climbing and some luck with the weather. Engolasters is the exception. You drive up, park beside it and within ten minutes you’re walking along the water among the pines. For anyone visiting Andorra without mountain plans, it’s the lake I’d put on the itinerary.

Andorra’s easy lake

Andorra Turisme calls it the most accessible lake in the Principality. It covers 7 hectares and is the only one of the country’s large lakes lying below 2,000 m. It sits above Escaldes-Engordany on the boundary with Encamp, surrounded by a plateau of old stone barns, the church of Sant Miquel and the paths of the Madriu.

What you can’t do is swim. It’s strictly banned, because the lake holds the water intake and sluice for FEDA’s power station. I think that’s worth saying plainly, since in photos it looks like a mountain beach and it isn’t one.

How to get to Engolasters lake

By car from Escaldes, follow the CG-2 to the first roundabout and turn onto the Engolasters road, the CS-200. The Madriu valley’s official website lists the Camp del Serrat car park next to the lake, plus rough parking on the Engolasters plateau at the Font de la Closa picnic area.

On foot, the classic route starts in Encamp opposite the Car Museum. It’s about 2 km, 1.9 on the route sheet, with around 350 m of ascent, and Andorra Turisme allows 1 h 15 up and 45 minutes back. The path heads south across streams and a couple of roads, then joins the GR-11, so you follow red and white waymarks. It passes the Borda de Cresper. The recommended season is June to September, stretching to May and October if the weather allows. If you’re staying in Encamp, it’s the best way up.

A dam, a power station and a legend

The lake is glacial in origin, but a lot of what you see is man-made. In 1934 the Forces Hidroelèctriques d’Andorra built a 178 m dam with the largest head of water in the country, and for decades it was central to Andorra’s electricity supply. A small wagon carried materials and workers up to the keepers’ hut and ran from 1930 to 1999.

FEDA runs the Engolasters Hydroelectric Trail, a guided 90-minute walk through the inside of the dam and along the channels, for up to 30 people and available in English. According to Andorra Turisme it runs on Saturdays in May, June and September and daily in July and August, closed on Mondays. Be warned that the same site lists the Electricity Museum as closed for works, so I’d check with FEDA before relying on it.

Then there’s the legend, which I love. A village is said to have been swallowed by the water, and witches bathed naked in the lake at night, turning any man who came to watch into a black cat. According to the same listing, they left at the start of the 20th century, just as the dam and power station arrived.

When and how to go

The footpath is recommended from June to September, stretching to May and October if the weather allows. You can drive up for most of the year, but remember that from 1 November to 15 May the country requires snow chains or winter tyres, which matters if you’re driving a hire car up from Toulouse or Barcelona. I prefer the lake in autumn and early in the day, with the water still and nobody about, to a Sunday lunchtime in August.

If you cycle, Andorra Turisme has route sheets for a road ride from Escaldes-Engordany to Engolasters and a mountain-bike route from Encamp to the lake via Les Pardines. The road ride uses the same CS-200 that passes Sant Miquel, so the church is right on your way.

More to do nearby

On the same road stands Sant Miquel d’Engolasters, built in the 12th century, its 17 m bell tower easy to spot from the road. Once the winter season ends, an adventure park opens beside the lake with zip lines and balance games, aimed mainly at children.

For more mountain, paths from the Engolasters plateau lead into the Madriu valley. To compare with Andorra’s higher and tougher lakes, see my guide to lakes in Andorra.