Travel Guide Lacu Roşu

Located 25 km east of Gheorgheni, this lake is quite simply one of the most beautiful in the country. Situated at an altitude of 980 m, on the headwaters of the Bicaz river, surrounded by forest-covered mountains, it offers superb scenery. Curious, too, because of the many dead tree trunks emerging from the surface of the water. This long lake (2.5 km long by 200 m wide at most) was formed by a gigantic landslide in 1837. The richness of the local flora and fauna has led to the creation of a nature reserve, which can be explored in summer along well-marked paths. Lac Rouge owes its name to the iron oxide particles suspended in the water, which give it a light color, as well as to the hue of the surrounding mountains. Legend has it that a beautiful young woman named Esther, attacked one day by a bandit, called upon the mountains for help. Understanding her distress, the rocks tumbled down in a stormy roar and swept away everything in their path, including Esther and her assailant. The lake's name recalls the bloodshed that day. In Hungarian, the lake is even called Gyilkos-tó, "the murderous lake".