Traful Lake is a

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

in the

Los Lagos Department Los Lagos is a department located in the south of Neuquén Province, Argentina. Geography The Department limits with Lácar Department at north, Rio Negro Province at the east and southeast, with Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chi ...

of the

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Neuquén Neuquén (; ) is the capital city of the Argentine province of Neuquén and of the Confluencia Department, located in the east of the province. It occupies a strip of land west of the confluence of the Limay and Neuquén rivers which form t ...

with an area of 71,5 km². The lake is the starting point of the

Traful River The Traful River is a river in Argentina. It flows from Traful Lake to Limay River. See also *List of rivers of Argentina This is a list of rivers of Argentina. Longest Rivers By drainage basin This list is arranged by drainage basin, with ...

that empties into the

Limay River The Limay River is an important river in the northwestern Argentine Patagonia (the region of Comahue). It originates at the eastern end of the Nahuel Huapi Lake and flows in a meandering path for about , collecting the waters of several tributa ...

. It is contained inside

Nahuel Huapi National Park Nahuel Huapi National Park () is the oldest National Parks of Argentina, national park in Argentina, established in 1922 as Parque Nacional de Sud and reconfiguered in 1934. It surrounds Nahuel Huapi Lake in the foothills of the Patagonian Andes. ...

. This lake is famous for a scenic view from a 102-meter-high glacier cliff which offers a complete view of the lake and the entire valley. On the lake's shore lies the mountain town of

Villa Traful Villa Traful is a Hamlet (place), hamlet of the Argentina, Argentine Provinces of Argentina, province of Neuquén Province, Neuquén located at the shore of the Traful Lake, at 720 metres above mean sea level. It is located inside the Nahuel Huapi ...

, the main settlement in the lake area. It has campgrounds, a gas station, and hotels. The waters of the lake are very transparent and well oxygenated. The irregular coasts of the lake have cliffs and beaches. Fishing is possible both from boats and from the shore. The north shore has good fishing for

landlocked salmon The Atlantic salmon (''Salmo salar'') is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Salmonidae. It is the third largest of the Salmonidae, behind Siberian taimen and Pacific Chinook salmon, growing up to a meter in length. Atlantic salmon a ...

rainbow trout The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributary, tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in North America and Asia. The steelhead (sometimes called steelhead trout) is an Fish migration#Classification, ...

brook trout The brook trout (''Salvelinus fontinalis'') is a species of freshwater fish in the char genus ''Salvelinus'' of the salmon family Salmonidae native to Eastern North America in the United States and Canada. Two ecological forms of brook trout h ...

, and

brown trout The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a species of salmonid ray-finned fish and the most widely distributed species of the genus ''Salmo'', endemic to most of Europe, West Asia and parts of North Africa, and has been widely introduced globally ...

Northern arm, “Pichi Traful”

The lake has a long, thin northern arm, known as Lake Pichi Traful. It extends to the northwest of the main body of the lake, accessible by the lake road or by highways RP 65 and RP 234. Upon arrival, there is a park guard station, which provides information about places to spend the night or camp. This branch of the lake is fed by the Pichi Traful river, which contributes oxygenated water. It's an excellent place for fly-fishing. At its mouth, there are beaches for camping.

Submerged forest

The lake contains a dead forest of some 60

cypress Cypress is a common name for various coniferous trees or shrubs from the ''Cupressus'' genus of the '' Cupressaceae'' family, typically found in temperate climates and subtropical regions of Asia, Europe, and North America. The word ''cypress'' ...

trees, which stand in some 15 meters of water. Previously they stood on a nearby hill, but a landslide, probably in the 1960s, plunged them into the lake, where they still stand today. Due to the water's great transparency, their roots are visible from the surface when it is calm.

References

External links

Villa and Lake Traful

Picture of the Viewpoint
Lakes of Neuquén Province {{Neuquén-geo-stub