The Red Lake – the ‘Killer’ lake in Harghita County

The Red Lake is a natural barrier lake located in a picturesque area close to Hasmasu Mare Mountains, near Gheorgheni, Harghita County. The lake formed in 1837 and is the only natural accumulation alpine lake in Romania.

In the summer of 1837, when the lake had been definitely formed, its water-level was higher than nowadays and stretched about 1 km longer into the valley of the Hasmas Stream.

Due to a series of storms and torrential rainfalls a segment of rock out of Ghilcos Mountain, also known as Killer Mountain fell off and blocked Licas Creek, Oii’ Valley (Valea Oii) and Red Creek. The name of the lake comes from the Red Creek which crosses through iron oxide and hydroxide layers. In the valley used to be a forest, but it was ravaged by water after the rocks collapsed.

However, Suhard Massif’ rocks are also red, which is why its reflection in the lake enhances the visual red effect.

You can still see the true spectacular image of the sunken broad-leaf forest, some tree trunks coming out of the water .Tourists can navigate through the stubs in small rented boats.

Unfortunately, as years go by, we can observe the lake is shrinking due to the clogging phenomenon, namely the rivers that flow into the lake bring solid deposits. Therefore, it seems the lake will only exist until 2100.

They say The Red Lake got the name ‘Killer Lake’ due to some legends. One of them claims that the rocks killed a shepherd and his flock, and the water turned red because of their blood.

The most famous legend says that in a village nearby, there was a very beautiful girl called Eszter who fell in love with a young strong man. They decided to get married, but the boy went into the army and the girl remained at home waiting. She found help from the mountains when a thief kidnapped her and force her into marrying him. A stormy rain started, rocks fell down and destroyed everything in its way including the girl.  After that, all the mountain waters gathered there, forming The Red Lake (The Killer Lake).