Travel Guide Represa De Gatún

Less than 2 kilometers from the Gatún locks, on the left after the bridge, is a beautiful viewpoint overlooking Lake Gatún and the dam that created it. Built between 1907 and 1913, it is a key element of the canal, which is 30 m wide at the top, but almost 800 m wide at the base! Cutting the course of the Río Chagres 11 km from its mouth in the Caribbean Sea, it was for a long time the largest dam ever built in the world. 262 km² of virgin forest and dozens of villages were swallowed up after the population was evacuated. The railroad line was even relocated and hilltops turned into islands.