Puckinger See is a lake of

Upper Austria Upper Austria ( ; ; ) is one of the nine States of Austria, states of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, and Salzburg (state), Salzbur ...

. It is primarily used for recreation. The Puckinger See (or Lake Pucking) is an artificial local recreation area east of the town of

Pucking Pucking is a small town in the Linz-Land district in the Austrian state of Upper Austria Upper Austria ( ; ; ) is one of the nine States of Austria, states of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic, ...

, located near

Linz Linz (Pronunciation: , ; ) is the capital of Upper Austria and List of cities and towns in Austria, third-largest city in Austria. Located on the river Danube, the city is in the far north of Austria, south of the border with the Czech Repub ...

. It includes a swimming area, a small lawn for sunbathing, tennis courts, an allotment garden, a sports center with a climbing hall and a beach volleyball court.

Background

As with many lakes in the Linz area, the gravel deposits in the area of today's Puckinger See served construction projects. Around 40,000 cubic meters of material was removed during the construction of the A25 Welser autobahn (formerly Linz autobahn) between the Haid (

Ansfelden Ansfelden is a town in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. The rivers Traun and Krems run through the municipality. The town is perhaps best known for being the birthplace of the composer and organist Anton Bruckner. Ansfelden has two museu ...

) and

Wels Wels (; Central Bavarian: ''Wös'') is a city in Upper Austria, on the Traun River near Linz. It is the county seat of Wels-Land, and with a population of approximately 60,000, the List of cities and towns in Austria, eighth largest city in Aus ...

junctions. The Puckinger See is the result of the pit filling with water. The lake is fed from the groundwater flow of the nearby

Traun river Traun () is a river in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. Its source is in the Totes Gebirge mountain range in Styria. It flows through the Salzkammergut area and the lakes Hallstätter See and Traunsee. The Traun is a right tributary of the Da ...

Current Uses as a Recreation Area

The Puckinger See is now used as a local recreation area. Due to its location next to the A25, from which it is separated by a strip of lawn and trees only around 150 meters wide, the noise pollution is higher and more constant than, for example, at Lake Pichlinger, which the Westbahn passes by. Although the water has bathing quality, the noise level, dense vegetation of aquatic plants, and the steep embankments mar the bathing pleasure. The lake has an average depth of 4 meters and its bottom is densely overgrown. The fish population is varied, including carp, zander, catfish and even

paddlefish Paddlefish (family Polyodontidae) are a family of ray-finned fish belonging to order Acipenseriformes, and one of two living groups of the order alongside sturgeons (Acipenseridae). They are distinguished from other fish by their elongated rost ...

in the water, which can be as warm as 25 degrees Celsius in the summer. On the east bank there are facilities for curling, beach volleyball, soccer fields and sanitary facilities. There is also a climbing hall and allotment gardens. Along the western side of the lake is natural, and along the north there is a narrow sunbathing lawn, which borders directly on the motorway. The lake is very popular with anglers due to the diverse fish population. In winter, ice skaters and stick shooters gather on the frozen surface of the water to spend their leisure time together. Diving in the Puckinger See is only permitted with a fee-based license issued by the municipal administration.

References

{{Reflist Lakes of Upper Austria Lakes of Europe Rivers of Upper Austria Tributaries of the Danube Traun basin Rivers of Austria Artificial lakes