Lake Uvildy

Uvildy is a lake located in the Argayashsky District, Kyshtymsky and Karabashsky Districts of the Chelyabinsk Region. The surroundings of the reservoir have long been considered uninhabited. The lake occupies an area of 68.1 km², its volume is 1014 million m³ of water. Recreation centers, children’s health camps and private houses have appeared here relatively recently. However, recent studies of the bottom of the lake have shown that the shores of Uvildy were once inhabited by people, carriers of a developed culture.

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Video: Lake Uvildy

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Meaning of the name

There are several versions of the meaning of the lake’s name. The word “uvildy” in translation from Bashkir may mean “blue bowl”. The reservoir really resembles a bowl with a blue bottom filled with water. Bashkirs also call the lake Ueldekul (Ueldekul). “Uelde” means “depression” and “kul” (“kul”) means “lake”. In some sources there are Russian variants of the name: Uvelgi and Ueldy.

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Climatic features

The Chelyabinsk Oblast has a continental climate. Summers here are arid and hot, and winters are long. However, the area around Lake Uvildy has its own microclimate created by the reservoir. Summer near Uvildy is cool. Winter is much milder than in other areas of the region. The weather is characterized by instability. The air temperature can change several times a day both upward and downward.

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The swimming season at Lake Uvildy does not last long. Because of the great depth of 35-38 meters the reservoir warms up very slowly. Swimming on the lake begin in the second half of July. In the middle of August the water gradually cools down. In early September, vacationers on the shore are almost never seen. In October, the storm season begins.

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Ecology of Lake Uvildy

Lake Uvildy belongs to the group of drainless low-water-exchange water bodies. This means that it takes at least 17 years for the lake’s water to completely renew itself. However, Uvildy is considered to be ecologically clean. Proof of this is the presence of crayfish, which will never live in polluted water. Pike, perch, ripus, bream and other fish species are also found here.

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In January 1969, Lake Uvildy received the status of a Natural Monument. But a few years later, the Chelyabinsk region almost lost this monument. In the second half of the 1970s, the Urals suffered from a severe drought. The Argazinskoye Reservoir, which supplied Chelyabinsk with water, was gradually getting shallow. To provide the city with a vital resource, a canal was dug between the reservoir and the lake. Chelyabinsk was saved, but the Uvildy was significantly damaged. It took at least 30 years to restore the original water level. Only in the late 2000s did the depth of the lake become the same.

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Today, the Uvildy suffers from a high recreational load, which exceeds the norm by 20-25 times. In the summer months, not only vacationers from numerous tourist bases and sanatoriums, but also residents of private houses and cottages come to the shore.

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Islands

Small areas of land divided the lake into 3 sub-watersheds: northern, western and southern. The islands on Lake Uvildy have beautiful names:

  • Spruce. It was named this way thanks to the spruce trees growing here. The height of the trees reaches 30 meters.
    • Hungry. Legend has it that fishermen passed by this island during a storm. A small piece of land allowed them to wait out the weather and escape. Despite the fact that the fishermen had to starve, they managed to survive.Birch. This patch of land is home to rowan, bilberry and many berry bushes, but birch is most commonly found here.
  • Elm. The island is connected to the shore by a bridge and an earth embankment. This land got its name due to the elm trees growing here, which are rare for the Urals. Scientists do not know how they ended up on the island. Not a single elm tree has been spotted on the shores of the lake.
  • Crane Islands. A group of small land areas was named so because of its location, resembling a wedge of flying cranes.
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In addition to this, Lake Uvildy is home to Misery Island, Teplyak, Mullin, and many others.

Legends of Lake Uvildy

Like any attraction, Lake Uvildy is surrounded by many legends. According to one legend, the body of water should be considered cursed. In the lake drowned lovers. After this sad event, people died on Uvildy every year. To explore the “blue bowl” was offered to several divers.

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At the bottom of the lake was found a boat, made, according to experts, back in the XVIII century. Probably, the folk legend was not an absolute fiction. More interesting finds were also discovered: fragments of a wooden ladle and 2 ceramic vessels. The age of the finds is not less than 7 thousand years. There are assumptions that all these objects were used for funeral rites by people who lived near the lake before the advent of our era.

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The divers’ finds were transferred to the Chelyabinsk Museum of Local Lore, where they can be seen. After the first success, many projects were developed to search for new items of archaeological value. But due to the lack of necessary financial opportunities, none of the projects was realized.

The legend that Lake Uvildy is cursed could have appeared thanks to the work of Russian writer D. N. Mamin-Sibiryak. At the end of the XIX century Dmitry Narkisovich visited the shores of Uvildy, calling it in his essay “Dead Lake”. However, researchers of the writer’s work assure that the word “dead” is used as a synonym for the words “uninhabited”, “uninhabited”. On the shores of the reservoir and near it not so long ago there was not a single settlement.

Video: Uvildy Resort

Entertainment at Lake Uvildy

Vacation at the lake implies close contact with nature, which is deprived of a modern city dweller. On Uvildy come for a quiet relaxing vacation without visiting nightclubs and noisy events. The shore of the reservoir can be an ideal place for meditation for fans of various Eastern practices.

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A favorite pastime of both visitors and locals is fishing. You can catch not only fish, but also crayfish. Especially for tourists in 2008 in Lake Uvildy was released a huge number of fry bream and pike. In 2009 several species of salmon were launched into the lake. In the nearest plans of the regional authorities to fill the reservoir with muksun, nelma and omul.

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In 2010, for the first time on the lake was held ice fishing competition. In the same year the competition “Fishing in the silver rain on the Uvildy” was held. The contestants had to catch ripus and Chudsky whitefish. Separate nominations were created for fish of other breeds.

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Accommodation

Vacation “savage” has its charms, but not every tourist can afford to sleep in a tent. In addition, it is not always safe. Much better to buy a trip to one of the recreation centers near the lake: “Pearl Coast”, “Amber”, “Rodnichok”, “Zarya” and others.

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The sanatorium “Uvildy” is especially popular. The recreational institution was opened in 1932. For a while the sanatorium was transformed into an evacuation hospital. In the mid-1940s, after healing muds were discovered near “Uvildy”, the sanatorium was converted into a balneo-mud resort. The appearance of new equipment, as well as the discovery of the healing properties of the water and climate near the lake gave more opportunities for treatment and recovery of the resort’s guests. Today “Uvildy” specializes not only in restoring lost health. Cosmetology procedures are widely used at the resort. Among the celebrities who came to the lake to maintain youth and beauty are People’s Artist of the USSR Elena Obraztsova and pop singer Edita Piekha.

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How to get there

It is best to get to Lake Uvildy by your own transportation. Go from Chelyabinsk on the highway “Chelyabinsk – Yekaterinburg”. The lake separates from the city 90 km. After driving 15 km from the capital of the Southern Urals, you need to turn to the village of Argayash. From the village you will have to turn left and drive towards the village of Kuznetskoye. Behind the village you can see a sign to the sanatorium “Uvildy”. After 4 km travelers will get to the lake. In the absence of personal transportation to the reservoir can be reached by trains № 014, № 039, № 097, № 182 and № 189. You should get off at the railway station “Ripus”.

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