Lake Turrach (german: Turracher See) is an Alpine lake at Turracher Höhe Pass, on the state border of

Carinthia Carinthia (german: Kärnten ; sl, Koroška ) is the southernmost States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The main language is German language, German. Its regional dialects belong to t ...

and

Styria Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of , Styria is the second largest state of Austria, after Lower Austria. Styria is bordered to ...

in Austria.

Geography

The lake is located within the Gurktal Alps ( Nock Mountains) at a height of above sea-level. Due to the altitude, it frequently freezes over in winter. In summer, the water temperature can reach a maximum of ; the waters therefore are hardly used for bathing, except for a hotel beach on the southern shore equipped with thermal pumps. Lake Turrach is fed by a mountain stream and several marshy meadows, the water drains northwards into the Styrian Mur valley at Predlitz. It was the first Carinthian lake to be protected from the discharge of wastewater by a sewage system. Today, several species of fish occur, among them

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'' morph ...

and arctic char. Since 2012 the Carinthian part of the lake belongs to the UNESCO Salzburg Lungau and Nock Mountains biosphere reserve.

External links

Carinthian Institute of Limnology
Lakes of Carinthia (state) LTurracher {{Carinthia-geo-stub