Lake Bohinj, Slovenia

Lake Locations:

Slovenia - Julian Alps -

Slovenia’s largest permanent lake, Lake Bohinj is little known outside of the country. (Lake Cerknica is larger than Lake Bohinj during the flood season, but disappears entirely during dry seasons). Located entirely within the Triglav National Park in the Julian Alps, Lake Bohinj is only 30 minutes from better known Lake Bled. But while smaller Lake Bled attracts an international base of holiday-makers, Lake Bohinj remains the destination of choice for the young and adventurous. The pristine lake between mountain ranges invites hiking, mountain biking, downhill skiing and extreme sports. The west end of the lake holds several camping grounds, and the villages of Ribcev Laz and Ukanc are home to older hotels, pensions and holiday lets. No motors are allowed on the lake except for the electrically powered tourist boats linking Ribcev Laz at one end of the lake to Ukanc at the other end every half hour. Young holiday-makes flock to enjoy the youth-oriented, if somewhat unsophisticated nightclubs and bars in Ribcev Laz by night and enjoy the warmed summer waters along the shore by day.

Visitors to Lake Bohinj enjoy a variety of water sports, including sailing, windsurfing, kite-surfing and rowing on the glacial lake. Tributary streams, the inflowing Savica River and the out-flowing Jezernica, lend themselves to whitewater rafting, canoeing and kayaking. As part of the national park, there is almost no development along the lakeshore, but most amenities are within a five or ten-minute walk of the shore. Boats and sports equipment can be rented at the local towns, while excursions are regularly arranged to take advantage of local opportunities and locations. Fishing is highly rewarding at Lake Bohinj. The lake is home to a native lake trout, burbot, and whiting. A non-native species is the zlatovscica lake trout, now the predominate species in the lake, that is prized as a specialty by gourmet fishermen. Lake fishermen are allowed to fly-fish or spin-cast, and fishing is administered by the Bohinj Fishing Society. The Jezernica River, which becomes the Sava Bohinjka, is in some places a rushing alpine stream squeezed into a narrow gorge. Here the fly-fisherman can pursue brook trout, grayling, rainbow trout, Danube salmon (or huchen) and whiting.

Plenty of activities await the holiday-maker off the lake too. The shore of Lake Bohinj is well-supplied with hiking trails and bicycle paths. An old cart-track circles the lake and can be walked in about four hours. Many small beaches invite the hiker to enjoy a dip in the waters. The views of the blue water of Lake Bohinj reflecting the towering mountains make a camera a necessity. A cable-car ride will take visitors from near the lakeshore to the Mount Vogel Ski Area, where views of the lake and across the lake to Mount Triglav and the the Julian Alps are incredible. The more adventurous try paragliding or other extreme sports such as bungee-jumping at local ‘adrenaline parks’. One popular excursion is to make the climb to Govic Cave. Located 426 feet above Lake Bohinj, the cave is dry most of the year and open for exploration. However an interesting phenomenon occurs during periods of heavy rain: the cave’s deep shaft, which reaches below the level of Lake Bohinj, fills with water during heavy downpours and erupts in a torrential waterfall. This spectacular natural phenomenon can be best viewed near the Ukanc campground. A more reliable waterfall in the area is the beautiful Savica Waterfall. This most famous Slovenian waterfall bursts forth from the mountain a short distance from Ukanc. The waterfall falls almost 170 feet, while a smaller waterfall drops 82 feet. And many come here to attempt to climb Mount Triglav, the highest point in Slovenia at 9,396 feet. The Triglav is a well-known Slovenian national symbol, appearing on the flag, the Slovenian Coat-of-Arms, and the Slovenian 50 eurocent coin.

Winter at Lake Bohinj is nearly as busy as the summer season. Although the lake does not freeze reliably, the surrounding mountains offer some of Slovenia’s most popular downhill ski areas. Snow here at the Vogel ski area is never artificially made. Over 25 miles of ski slopes offer skiing conditions suitable for all ages and skill levels. Several ski schools provide instruction. The ski area is quieter and more conducive to family skiing than the busier resorts and at a more reasonable price. Winter also brings opportunities for cross-country skiing, snowboarding, ice skating, tobogganing, ice climbing, snowshoeing and snow rafting – simply a form of sledding using a raft.

A few miles north of Ribcev Laz is the colorful and charismatic Slovenian village of Stara Fuzina, an alternative for holiday rentals and home to the Museum of Highland Pasture Life. The museum was the former center of local cheese-making that made the village famous. The village holds a gostilna, a traditional Slovenian inn.

A visit to Lake Bohinj is an unhurried and largely un-commercialized holiday destination. Recent efforts appear to be steering Lake Bohinj into a more commercialized tourism center on the model of Lake Bled. Lake Bohinj will continue to see thousands of holiday makers each year, but perhaps a different sort of visitor. Those wishing to experience the unstructured Lake Bohinj in all its natural glory would be wise to visit soon while vacation rentals can still be reserved in great variety and at reasonable price. Small hotels, gostisce and gostilna still exist, along with self-catering holiday houses, chalets and apartments. Some real estate is available along rivers and in villages, but the Lake Bohinj shoreline is all national park lands. If a holiday in Slovenia is in your future, plan to spend at least a few days at Lake Bohinj; you’ll remember it forever!

Things to do at Lake Bohinj

  • Vacation Rentals
  • Fishing
  • Boating
  • Sailing
  • Swimming
  • Beach
  • Canoeing
  • Kayaking
  • Whitewater Rafting
  • Kite Surfing
  • Camping
  • Campground
  • Hiking
  • Ice Skating
  • Ice Climbing
  • Biking
  • Downhill Skiing
  • Snowboarding
  • Cross-Country Skiing
  • Tobogganing
  • Waterfall
  • National Park
  • Museum

Fish species found at Lake Bohinj

  • Brook Trout
  • Burbot
  • Grayling
  • Lake Trout
  • Rainbow Trout
  • Salmon
  • Trout

Lake Bohinj Photo Gallery

Lake Bohinj Statistics & Helpful Links

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Lake Type: Natural Freshwater Lake, Not Dammed

Surface Area: 832 acres

Shoreline Length: 8 miles

Normal Elevation (Full Pond): 1,730 feet

Average Depth: 98 feet

Maximum Depth: 150 feet

Water Volume: 80,828 acre-feet

Water Residence Time: aprox 120 days

Trophic State: Oligotrophic

Lake Bohinj Map

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Trophic State | LakeLubbers

Trophic State measures the level of algae and nutrients in a lake.

An oligotrophic lake is very clear (blue in color) and does not support much plant or fish life. A hyper-oligotrophic lake is the clearest of all lakes, and is nearly devoid of plants and fish.

A mesotrophic lake is slightly green and supports a moderate degree of plant and fish life. A lake's most desired trophic state is generally this mid-point - the mesotrophic state.

A eutrophic lake is somewhat murky and supports a large amount of plant and fish life. A hypereutrophic lake is clouded with algae, plant life, and fish life. A eutrophic or hyper-eutrophic lake can be difficult to navigate by boat - and is often an unpleasant place to swim.

The use of phosphorus-rich and nitrogen-rich fertilizer on lawns and golf courses surrounding a lake can cause it to become eutrophic or hypereutrophic.

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Catchment or Drainage Area | LakeLubbers

This is the surrounding area that drains into a lake, including land, rivers and their tributaries. This is also known as the lake's "catchment basin".

Small lakes at the highest peaks of mountains have small drainage areas. The world's oceans have the largest drainage areas.

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Lake-Area Population | LakeLubbers

This is the estimated number of people who live in a house with a view of a lake, plus those who self-describe the lake as their home, for example: "I live at Smith Mountain Lake."

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Water Residence Time | LakeLubbers

This is the estimated time that it takes for an amount of water equal to the entire volume of a lake to flow out of - or evaporate from - the lake.

Residence Time can be as short as a few days for fast-flowing small lakes, and can exceed 100 years for slow-flowing large lakes.

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Completion Year | LakeLubbers

This is the year that a reservoir was first filled to the reservoir's normal elevation - or the year that a natural lake was first dammed. A large reservoir can take more than a year to fill after its dam is first closed.

The Grand Anicut in southern India is generally considered the world's oldest dam that still operates. Grand Anicut was constructed in the second century BC. It now impounds an irrigation network that includes roughly one million acres.

You can find many of the the world's newest reservoirs on LakeLubbers. Many of the world's oldest reservoirs appear on the last page of that list.

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Water Volume | LakeLubbers

This is the estimated volume of water that a lake contains -- measured at the lake's normal elevation. By this measure, the world's largest freshwater lake is Siberia's Lake Baikal.

You can find many of the the world's largest lakes (by water volume) on LakeLubbers.

Water Volume can be measured in acre-feet, in cubic miles, or in cubic kilometers. One acre-foot is the amount of water needed to cover one acre (43,560 square feet) to a depth of one foot. One cubic mile equals 3,379,200 acre-feet. One cubic kilometer equals 810,713 acre-feet.

1 acre-foot is equal to 325,851 US gallons. Siberia's Lake Baikal contains about 6,276,367,740,000,000 gallons of freshwater - nearly 1 million gallons for every living person on earth.

The other - and more widely used - measure of a lake's size is the lake's surface acreage. By that measure, the world's largest freshwater lake is North America's Lake Superior.

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Maximum Depth | LakeLubbers

This is the estimated greatest depth of the water in a lake -- measured at the lake's normal elevation. The world's deepest lake is Siberia's Lake Baikal; that lake's maximum depth is estimated at 5,314 feet.

You can find many of the the world's deepest lakes on LakeLubbers. If you select the last page of that list, you will find the (maximum depth of) the shallowest lakes in our database.

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Average Depth | LakeLubbers

This is the estimated average depth of the water in a lake -- measured at the lake's normal elevation. If the water volume and surface area of a lake are known, an estimate of the lake's average depth can be calculated:

Water volume ÷ Surface Area = Average Depth

Example: 1,000,000 acre-feet ÷ 20,000 acres = 50 feet average depth

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Maximum Elevation | LakeLubbers

This is a lake's highest water level, measured by the lake's surface distance above sea level, that can occur during flooding. A lake's highest possible maximum elevation is usually the top of the lake's dam or spillway.

At lakes that include residential development, government regulations usually forbid the construction of homes below a lake's maximum elevation.

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Minimum Elevation | LakeLubbers

This is a lake's lowest water level, measured by the lake's surface distance above sea level, that can be reasonably expected to occur. Low lake levels can occur due to deliberate seasonal draw downs for irrigation or impending snow melt, reduced water inflows, drought and evaporation, residential or commercial water demands, and hydropower generation.

Some lakes' minimum and maximum elevations are virtually the same. Lakes that generate hydropower may vary by several feet - according to power demand. Lakes whose primary purpose is to prevent flooding can seasonally vary by 100 feet or more.

When some lakes reach their minimum elevation, their boat ramps may not be long enough to permit boat access - and boats docked on shallow parts of the lake may end up on dry ground. In those cases, kayakers and shore-based anglers may be among the few happy recreational users of the lake.

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Normal Elevation | LakeLubbers

This is a lake's normal water level, measured by the lake's surface distance above sea level. For a reservoir, this water level is also known as "full pond" or "full pool".

You can find many of the world's highest-elevated lakes on LakeLubbers. Lakes with the lowest elevations (known by LakeLubbers) are shown on the final page of that list.

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Shoreline Length | LakeLubbers

This is the length of the exterior shoreline around a lake - measured at the lake's normal elevation. The shoreline length can be considerably shorter or longer when lake water levels are lower or higher than normal.

A lake with many coves has a much longer shoreline than a lake of similar surface area that is nearly circular in shape.

When known, the shoreline miles that we report in our statistics include only the lake's exterior shoreline, and exclude the shorelines of islands located within a lake's boundaries. In lakes with many islands, those islands' combined shorelines may exceed a lake's exterior shoreline.

You can find many of the world's longest-shoreline lakes on Lakelubbers.

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Surface Area | LakeLubbers

This is the area (acreage, square kilometers, etc.) of the top surface area of a lake - measured at a lake's normal elevation. The surface area can be considerably smaller or larger when lake levels are lower or higher than normal. North America's Lake Superior is the world's largest freshwater lake by this measure.

The other measure of a lake's size is the lake's water volume. By that measure, the world's largest freshwater lake is Lake Baikal in Siberia.

You can find many of the world's largest lakes (acres) on Lakelubbers. There is no widely-accepted minimum surface area that defines a lake. What Lakelubbers describes as a lake, you might call a pond. The smallest lake that Lakelubbers currently includes is Hawaii's 2-acre Lake Waiau.

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Water Level Control | LakeLubbers

This is the organization that controls water releases or outflows from the lake or reservoir. In the USA, this is often the US Army Corps of Engineers, a power company, a municipal water system, an irrigation district, or a paper manufacturing company. In the case of private or gated lakes, a homeowners' association may be the lake's controlling authority.

Many lakes cross borders, including North America's Great Lakes. The control of such lakes and their coveted freshwater may be amicably shared - or hotly disputed.

"Water wars" continue at many lakes as growing populations and crop irrigation needs compete for the freshwater that lakes contain.

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Lake Type | LakeLubbers

There are 3 basic types of lakes that are currently included on LakeLubbers. 2 types may be dammed or not dammed, producing 5 classifications.

- A Reservoir is a man-made freshwater lake that is usually created by damming rivers.

- A Natural Freshwater Lake occurs naturally - often by glacial activity - and has a salinity of less than 30 parts per thousand. It may be dammed to produce electricity or for other reasons.

- A Natural Saltwater Lake occurs naturally and has a salinity of more than 30 parts per thousand (ppt). It may be dammed.

"Brackish" water may be categorized as freshwater or saltwater, depending on its salt content (salinity). Oligohaline water has less than 15 ppt of salt. Mesohaline water has 15-29 ppt. Polyhaline has 30-335 ppt.

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