The crater
Dense forest.
Vámos Sándor — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Várkonyi Tibor — CC BY-SA 4.0 · No machine-readable author provided. Csanády assumed (based on copyright claims). — Public domain · No machine-readable author provided. Csanády assumed (based on copyright claims). — Public domain
Lake Sfânta Ana is the only crater lake in Romania, filling the crater of the Ciomad volcano in the Eastern Carpathians near Tușnad in Harghita County, about 59 km northeast of Brașov in a straight line. It is part of the Mohoș Nature Reserve. The lake's history began some 9,800 to 8,800 years ago, and researchers place the volcano's last eruption anywhere from 32,000 to 9,800 years ago. The volcano is dormant today. The lake is fed by rain alone, so its water is very low in minerals, close to distilled water, and it keeps getting shallower: 12 metres deep in 1867, it is now under 7 metres. The lake lies at 946 metres and is almost round, shaped like a painter's palette, 620 metres long and 460 metres wide, covering 19.5 hectares. The crater walls around it are cloaked in dense forest mirrored in the calm green water, and in winter ice up to a metre thick covers it. Visitors walk the path around the lake through the trees and relax on its grassy shores. Swimming has been banned since April 2018 except for sporting events with special permits, and a small chapel stands nearby.
Dense forest.
Rain-fed only.
Around the lake.
Mohoș Nature Reserve, near Tușnad, Harghita County, Romania
No, swimming has been banned since 2018.
Walk around the lake and relax on the shore.