Seewaldsee

The Seewaldsee is a mountain lake in the Austrian province of Vorarlberg, set high on the south-west slope of the Blasenka. It lies 1.4 kilometres east of the centre of Fontanella at 1,132 metres above sea level. The small hamlet of Seewald, which gives the lake its name, sits just north of the water. Unlike other lakes in the region, this is the only one in the Great Walsertal valley. The lake formed at the end of the last ice age when glaciers withdrew from the Alpine valleys. The Seewaldsee has no surface streams feeding or draining it, relying instead on rainfall and a ground source for its water. An impermeable layer beneath the lakebed keeps the water from sinking away. The lake supports rare plant species such as the potentially endangered pool horsetail and two kinds of sedge. Its steep wooded shores are home to grey alder, ash, sycamore and alpine willow, while the flatter north shore has a wider reed belt and a fen-meadow lime woodland nearby. A footpath from the Säge settlement leads to the lake, and another circles its edge. Two mountain hiking trails connect it from the Buchbodener Straße. In summer a small shuttle train runs from the Säge to the water. Facilities include changing rooms, a bathing jetty and seasonal catering. The lake and its surroundings are protected as a particularly valuable habitat in Vorarlberg’s biotope register and lie within the Großes Walsertal Biosphere Park.