Lake Costalovara, one of the cleanest freshwater lakes in Italy, can be found on the Renon high plateau
Lake Costalovara - "Wolfsgrubener See" in German, "Lago di Costalovara" in Italian - is surrounded by dense forests and owes its name to the eponymous hamlet. It can be reached following the street which leads you to the southern localities of the Renon, approx. 17 km away from Bolzano. The lake has emerged in a natural way about 200 years ago, but has been artificially expanded. With its water the sawmills and mills of the surroundings were operated. Lake Costalovara is fed by precipitations and as a consequence its water level is low in periods with low precipitations. Due to this reason, a few years ago there has been built a canal which conducts water from the Rio d'Auna brook into the lake. The Rio Mulino which flows into the Isarco river, drains the lake.
Lake Costalovara is a popular bathing lake, as its average temperature in high summer is about 22 to 24 degrees C. On a narrow tongue of land which seems to divide the lake into two halves, there is a hotel. By the way, according to the Italian environmentalist association Legambiente, this lake is - together with Lake Braies in the Val Pusteria valley - among the 10 cleanest freshwater lakes in Italy. In winter, however, its surface is frozen and offers perfect conditions for ice skating.
Altitude: 1,176 m a.s.l.
Surface: 3.3 hectares
Depth: max. 4 m
Category: bathing lake
