Lake Ulza

Directions

Liqeni i Ulzës

Lake Ulza is a reservoir on the Mat river in northern Albania, at the town of Ulëz. A dam there serves the Ulëz hydroelectric power station, whose units were commissioned in 1957 and which is operated by the Albanian power corporation KESH. The river Mat feeds and drains the reservoir, which lies in the Mat valley in the north of the country.

How it formed

The Mat, 110 km long, rises in the Martanesh mountains and flows into the reservoir; below the dam it passes on to the smaller Shkopet lake, in a gorge a few kilometres downstream.

Nature

The lake is the centre of a regional nature park of oak forests, water and rocky habitats, with Deja mountain on the horizon. It covers the area of both Ulza and Shkopet, at about 400 m above sea level.

Gallery

2 photos

Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domain

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Visit

Getting there

Nearest settlement: Ulëz

Swimming

No reliable information

Tips

Ulza is about an hour and ten minutes’ drive from Tirana, near Burrel. A two-kilometre paved road leads from the main highway to the village just below the dam, where a guesthouse and a small eco resort have opened, and an off-road vehicle comes in handy on the little-used stretch between Burrel and Milot. Fishing, boating, kayaking and birdwatching are all offered, and the lake’s gorges make it a kayaking attraction.

Shkopet, a short drive away, is the most visited part of the Mat region, for its two suspension bridges and a viewpoint by the road, and small boats can be rented at the gorge. The park’s forest trails, old towers and churches can be visited all year, and summer weekends, spring and autumn are good times to go.