The Hourtin-Carcans Lake (, ; ) is a

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

in the

natural region A natural region (landscape unit) is a basic geographic unit. Usually, it is a region which is distinguished by its common natural features of geography, geology, and climate. From the ecological point of view, the naturally occurring flora and ...

of Médoc, located in the

French department In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. There are a total of 101 ...

Gironde Gironde ( , US usually , ; , ) is the largest department in the southwestern French region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Named after the Gironde estuary, a major waterway, its prefecture is Bordeaux. In 2019, it had a population of 1,623,749.

Aquitaine Aquitaine (, ; ; ; ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne (), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former Regions of France, administrative region. Since 1 January 2016 it has been part of the administ ...

. It is one of the largest lakes in France, and the largest freshwater lake, by surface area, situated entirely in France. It lies at an elevation of 14 m (46 ft), and has a surface area of 56.67 km² (21.88 sq. miles). In winter, its size is exceeded by Lac de Grand-Lieu in the

Loire-Atlantique Loire-Atlantique (; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Louére-Atantique''; ; before 1957: ''Loire-Inférieure'', ) is a departments of France, department in Pays de la Loire on the west coast of France, named after the river Loire and the Atlantic Ocean. ...

which expands to cover 62.92 km² but shrinks to 35 km² in summer.

Geography

The lake, one of the Great Lakes of the Landes, extends 18 km at its longest and 5 km at its widest, parallel to the

Côte d'Argent Côte d’Argent (; ) is a name given to part of the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Aquitaine region in France. Etymology The term was first coined to describe the Aquitaine coast in 1905 by the journalist and poet Maurice Martin. The Con ...

on the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

. The closest towns to Lac d'Hourtin-Carcans are Hourtin to the north east,

Carcans Carcans (; , ) is a commune in the Gironde department, administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine (before 2015: Aquitaine), France. Carcans is one of the 14 members of the Community of Communes of Médoc Atlantique. Geography Location Sit ...

to the south east and the resort of Maubuisson on the lake's southwestern shore.

Nature reserve

The 21.5 km² area of dunes and marshland between the north-western shore of the lake and the Atlantic Ocean, known as the 'dunes et marais d'Hourtin', has been designated a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

since 2009.Dunes et marais d'Hourtin
in French

References

Hourtin Carcans Landforms of Gironde {{Gironde-geo-stub