The Urdini Lakes ( bg, Урдини езера ) are a group of

glacial lake A glacial lake is a body of water with origins from glacier activity. They are formed when a glacier erodes the land and then melts, filling the depression created by the glacier. Formation Near the end of the last glacial period, roughly 10,0 ...

s, situated in the northwestern

Rila Mountains Rila ( bg, Рила, ) is the highest mountain range of Bulgaria, the Balkan Peninsula and Southeast Europe. It is situated in southwestern Bulgaria and forms part of the Rila–Rhodope Massif. The highest summit is Musala at an elevation of 2,925 ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

. They are not as popular with the tourists as the

Seven Rila Lakes The Seven Rila Lakes ( bg, Седемте рилски езера, Sedemte rilski ezera, ) are a group of glacial lakes, situated in the northwestern Rila Mountain in Bulgaria. They are the most visited group of lakes in Bulgaria. The lakes are s ...

further west, because they are situated in the most difficultly accessible areas of the mountain range. The Urdini lakes are located in the western section of the homonymous cirque between the summits of Damga (2,669 m) to the northwest and Dodov peak (2,661 m) to the south. They consist of six lakes: Suhoto (Bulgarian for ''Dry''), Ribnoto (''Fish''), Triagalnoto (''Triangle''), Botanicheskoto (''Botanical''), Golyamata Panitsa and Malkata Panitsa. The lakes are drained by the river Urdina, a right tributary of the Cherni Iskar, which is considered the

main stem In hydrology, a mainstem (or trunk) is "the primary downstream segment of a river, as contrasted to its tributaries". Water enters the mainstem from the river's drainage basin, the land area through which the mainstem and its tributaries flow.. A ...

of Bulgaria's longest river that runs entirely within the country, the Iskar. The individual lakes have a relatively small size, between 0.8 and 2.5 hectares. At smallest one is Ribnoto Lake (at an altitude of 2,348 m), which due to its proximity to the summit of Damga, at about 500 m to the southeast of the peak, is also called Damgsko Lake. Although this lake is the smallest in size, it has the largest catchment area in the group. The largest lake in both size and volume is Golyamata Panitsa Lake with an area of 2.5 hectares and volume of 89,500 m³. With an altitude of 2,278 m, it is the lowest in the lake group. The second largest is Triagalnoto Lake Triangle with an area of 2.34 hectares. The highest lake is Suhoto Lake, located not far from Dodov peak at an altitude of 2375 m. It has a circular shape and reaches 5 m in depth. The deepest lake at 7.6 m is Malkata Panitsa (2,336 m), situated to the east of the Ribnoto. Its outflow forms a small waterfall before it pours into Golyamata Panitsa Lake and then into the Urdina River. In 1985 the Urdini Lakes were declared a natural landmark of national and international importance. They fall within the boundaries of the

Rila National Park Rila National Park ( bg, Национален парк „Рила“) is the largest national park in Bulgaria spanning an area of in the Rila mountain range in the south-west of the country. History It was established on 24 February 1992 to ...

. The lakes are rich in

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

and

rainbow trout The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead (sometimes called "steelhead trout") is an anadromous (sea-run) form of the coasta ...

; the latter is an introduced species. Fishing is forbidden.

References

* {{coord, 42, 10, 28, N, 23, 19, 44, E, display=title Tourist attractions in Sofia Province Landforms of Sofia Province Samokov Municipality Lakes of the Rila Lake groups of Bulgaria