Lacul Rosu Sovata

Lacul Roșu is one of the salt lakes that make up the chain of water bodies in the balneoclimatic resort of Sovata, Mureș County, at the eastern extremity of the county, on the south-western foothills of the Munții Gurghiului. The lake is part of the nature reserve "Lacul Ursu și arboretele de pe sărături", a nationally protected area that includes, in addition to Lacul Ursu, the lakes Aluniș, Verde, Paraschiva, Mierlei and Negru. Unlike Lacul Ursu, the main lake of the resort, Lacul Roșu is a small formation with a surface area of approximately 0.03 hectares and a maximum depth of around one metre, situated immediately downstream of Lacul Verde. The lakes in this complex formed on the salt massif of the Praid-Sovata Depression through processes of salt dissolution and water accumulation, and are fed by freshwater streams that remain at the surface. Like the other salt lakes in the area, Lacul Roșu exhibits, on a small scale, the heliothermal phenomenon, whereby the surface layer of fresh water acts as a thermal insulator, allowing heat to accumulate in the salt water beneath. The lake is integrated into the network of maintained pathways linking the resort's lakes, and can be visited as part of the tourist circuit of the salt lake complex at Sovata.