Lakes of the Pyrenees
Valley of Cauterets – Lake of Gaube and the Vignemale (3298 m)
Map of the Lakes of the Pyrenees
The Lakes of the Pyrenees site is a unique database dedicated to the mountain lakes of the Pyrenees. Over 1370 lakes listed — click on a marker to open the detailed page with information: altitude, location, access, maps, photos.
View the full map (IGN, aerial photos, time-travel tools ...) on each lake's page→Hiking Around the Lakes of the Pyrenees
The Pyrenean mountain range stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea, forming a natural barrier between France and Spain.
Its abundant rainfall feeds countless streams and torrents, as well as a remarkable number of mountain lakes.
Depending on the region, these lakes are known by different names, including étang, estany, boum, gourg or gorg,
laquet or laquette, lago and ibón.
Many lakes have been enlarged by dams, such as
Cap de Long
and Artouste.
Others have been modified for hydroelectric purposes, such as
Lac d'Oô
and Lac Bleu.
Some lakes were created entirely for economic purposes, including
Lac des Bouillouses
and Barrage du Tech.
Ludovic Gaurier
systematically studied the lakes on the French side of the Pyrenees and produced the first geographical
and topographical inventory. In 1930, he recorded 520 high-altitude lakes and estimated that a similar
number existed on the Spanish side, most of them between 1800 and 2500 metres above sea level.
Louis Audoubert,
who wrote several books on the subject, later estimated the total number of lakes on both sides of the
Pyrenees at 2512.
Cataloguing every lake in the Pyrenees is no easy task. Many are very small, unnamed or absent from maps.
On this website, each lake has its own page, often illustrated with photographs and open to comments from visitors.
The lakes are classified from west to east, by department and by valley or watershed.
On the French side,
including Cauterets
and Ax-les-Thermes,
around 700 lakes are currently listed.
On the Spanish side,
including Vall d'Aran,
Valle de Benasque
and Vall de Boí,
the inventory is almost complete, with nearly 650 lakes.
At present, the website contains approximately 1369 lake pages
and more than 5000 photographs.
Examples include
Lac de Gaube,
Lac d'Estaing
and Lac Tourrat.
Biodiversity
High-altitude lakes in the Pyrenees are fragile ecosystems that support a unique and still poorly understood
biodiversity. They provide habitats for endemic and protected species such as the Pyrenean desman,
the Pyrenean brook salamander and several rare aquatic plants.
Most of these lakes originally had no fish. The introduction of fish, especially minnows and trout,
has significantly affected populations of amphibians and aquatic invertebrates.
Other major threats include climate change, atmospheric pollution, grazing and uncontrolled tourism.
Several restoration projects are now under way, including the removal of introduced fish from certain lakes,
with the aim of restoring their original biodiversity.
Fish stocking in mountain lakes
Only a minority of Pyrenean lakes have natural fish populations.
Ludovic Gaurier
mentioned some of them in his studies between 1900 and 1928.
In 1936, P. Chimits
recorded around 60 lakes in the western Pyrenees containing brown trout
(Salmo trutta fario).
Systematic fish stocking then began under the Water and Forests administration.
From the 1960s onwards, the
Pyrenees National Park
and later the departmental fishing federations continued the practice.
In the past, fish fry were carried up the mountains by men or mules; today, helicopters are used.
Over the last twenty years or so, many high-altitude lakes, particularly those within the National Park,
have no longer been stocked.
It has become clear that introduced fish, which often have few or no natural predators,
can significantly disrupt the original ecosystem.
Programmes to remove introduced fish from certain lakes are now under way.
Thank you to everyone who sends photographs and takes part in the forum of the lakes of the Pyrenees . There will always be corrections to make, and with your help we may one day succeed in documenting every lake in the Pyrenees. Your comments and contributions are most welcome.