Montenegro's lakes, natural and man-made

For a small country, Montenegro has a remarkably varied set of lakes. One vast one at sea level, shared with Albania, glacial ones above 1,400 m and reservoirs in deep canyons. Here they are with MONSTAT’s figures, since it does the measuring, and which ones I think deserve a detour.

Lake Skadar, the giant

It’s by far the largest. MONSTAT gives it 369.7 km² at 6 m above sea level and 44 m at its deepest, split between Bar, Podgorica and Cetinje, while the National Tourism Organisation adds that it grows from 370 km² in summer to 540 km² in winter, with 110.5 km of shoreline. It’s been a national park since 1983, a Ramsar site since 1995 and home to around 280 bird species, the Dalmatian pelican among them. The best way to see it is from the water, on a cruise or in one of the park’s kayaks at €3 an hour. See Lake Skadar.

Durmitor’s mountain eyes

That’s UNESCO’s name for Durmitor’s glacial lakes, and the Žabljak Tourism Organisation lists more than fifteen, from Crno jezero to Sušičko, Zminje, Barno and the Škrčka lakes. The best known is the Black Lake, Crno jezero, which MONSTAT puts at 0.52 km², 1,418 m up and 49.1 m deep. An educational trail circles it, and the National Parks rent rowing boats at €10 an hour. More in the Black Lake, and the park as a whole in Durmitor. One curiosity, according to the National Tourism Organisation, is that Sušičko comes and goes.

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Biogradska Gora and the Kolašin lakes

Lake Biograd, 0.23 km² at 1,094 m, sits in the heart of Biogradska Gora’s primeval forest and drains via the Jezerštica into the Tara. The National Parks count six glacial lakes in the park and hire out boats and kayaks on the main one. The Kolašin Tourism Organisation adds others, such as Pešića, Ursulovačko and the two Šiško lakes. It’s all in Biogradska Gora.

Piva, a reservoir between canyons

Lake Piva is a reservoir of 112.5 km² at 675 m, 187.5 m deep, the deepest in MONSTAT’s table. It lies in Plužine, enclosed by the Piva and Komarnica canyons, and the National Tourism Organisation suggests seeing it by boat. Beside it stands Piva Monastery, moved there stone by stone. Details in Lake Piva.

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Plav and the lakes of the east

At the eastern edge, Lake Plav covers 1.99 km² at 906 m and is 9.1 m deep. It’s close to Prokletije, where the National Parks also suggest an easy 3.1 km, one-hour trail to Lake Hridsko. See Lake Plav.

On the coast near Ulcinj, Lake Šas covers 3.6 km², with the ruins of Svač on a hill to its north, and around Nikšić there are several reservoirs, Slano, Krupac and Liverovići.

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