Lake Cerknica (Slovene: Cerkniško jezero; German: Zirknitzer See; oft attributed as Magic lake, or Mystic lake) is - according to a Slovene tourist organization booklet - the European largest intermittent lake, area wise. You have to "catch" it while it is there, since most of the time there is not much more then fields to be seen.

This is the first one of my three Lake Cerknica paddle videos, taken on 2023-06-01 (=June 1st, 2023), as the water level was at the 333cm mark.

Those wishing to "pursuit" the lake in reality, should read further... The vast karst cave system in the mountains around the plane and below the plane level provides for a complex dynamics of water level changes. It mostly rapidly rises after prolonged multiple day rains, just to drop towards zero during several following dry weeks. So, what you are looking for are prolonged rainy (or snow melting) days in the area, followed (sooner the better) by a stable, sunny and not windy weather. Here you can follow the Slovene official weather forecast. Also, you have to follow the water level during the last 30 days, last 7 days and last 24 hours.

All four videos were taken on the same day. At the 333cm water level mark (and probably up to around 350cm mark) there is no problem to pass under the bridge connecting the NW and SE parts of the lake. The bridge (bearing the automatic water level measuring station) can be seen in my walking video. As an optimal place to start paddling I recommend the touching point of the GPS tracks of this video and my walking video (in which that ideal parking place can also be seen). All four videos are covering just a tiny part of the vast lake area present on that day.

Here is my walking video: "Cerknica Lake 🚶 Sunrise"

More special places will follow... By foot, by bike and by kayak. Stay tuned...

☮ Make love, not war. Peace! ☮

Row Wales

MarkHople