Goksjø is a
lake
A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much lar ...
in the municipalities of
Sandefjord
Sandefjord () is a city and the most populous municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. The municipality of Sandefjord was established on 1 January 1838. The municipality of Sandar was merged into Sandefjord on 1 January 1969. On 1 ...
,
Larvik
Larvik () is a town and municipality in Vestfold in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Larvik. The municipality of Larvik has about 46,364 inhabitants. The municipality has a 110&nbs ...
and
Andebu
Andebu is a village in Sandefjord municipality, Vestfold County, and a former municipality. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Andebu. The village is surrounded by forests, mountains, and hills. Its nearest cities a ...
in
Vestfold og Telemark
Vestfold og Telemark (; ) is a county under disestablishment in Norway. The county is the southernmost one of Eastern Norway and consists of two distinct and separate traditional regions: the former counties of Telemark and (most of) Vestfold. T ...
county,
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
. Goksjø is 5 km from north to south, and has a circumference of 20 km. At its deepest, Goksjø is no deeper than 26 meters. Goksjø has an elevation of 28 meters above sea level. It is the largest lake in Sandefjord, and the third-largest in Vestfold County. It is surrounded by rural agricultural lands, and flooding occurs on a regular basis.

The lake is used for ice-skating, canoeing, swimming, fishing, and other recreational activities.
The name derives from ''Gautsjór'' from the male name ''Gautr'', which may have become ''Gok''.
Both draining rivers and inlets are located on the lake's northern shore. Storelv and Skorgeelva (Trollsåselva) are the two most important inlets. It is drained solely by
Hagneselva, which flows into
Ã…srumvannet and eventually into
Numedalslågen
Numedalslågen is a river located in the counties of Vestfold and Telemark and Viken in southeastern Norway. It is one of the longest rivers in Norway.
Location
Numedalslågen stretches for over through the counties of Vestfold and Telemark an ...
. Its most important inlet is the river Storelv, which flows from
Askimvannet in
Andebu
Andebu is a village in Sandefjord municipality, Vestfold County, and a former municipality. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Andebu. The village is surrounded by forests, mountains, and hills. Its nearest cities a ...
.
Fish species found here include
Northern pike
The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus ''Esox'' (the pikes). They are typical of brackish water, brackish and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). They are kno ...
,
European perch
The European perch (''Perca fluviatilis''), also known as the common perch, redfin perch, big-scaled redfin, English perch, Euro perch, Eurasian perch, Eurasian river perch, Hatch, poor man’s rockfish or in Anglophone parts of Europe, simply th ...
,
Ide,
Common dace
The common dace (''Leuciscus leuciscus'') is a species of freshwater and brackish water ray-finned fish from the family Cyprinidae which is native to Europe but which has been introduced to other parts of the world. It is a quarry species for coa ...
,
European eel
The European eel (''Anguilla anguilla'') is a species of eel, a snake-like, catadromous fish. They are normally around and rarely reach more than , but can reach a length of up to in exceptional cases.
Eels have been important sources of ...
,
Salmon
Salmon () is the common name
In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of ...
and
Brown trout
The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a European species of salmonid fish that has been widely introduced into suitable environments globally. It includes purely freshwater populations, referred to as the riverine ecotype, ''Salmo trutta'' morp ...
.
References
Books
*
See also
*
List of lakes in Norway
This is a list of lakes and reservoirs in Norway, sorted by Counties of Norway, county.
For the geography and history of lakes in that country, see Lakes in Norway, including:
*Lakes in Norway#Largest lakes, List of largest lakes in Norway
*L ...
Lakes of Vestfold og Telemark
{{VestfoldTelemark-geo-stub