Muratovo Lake

Directions

Муратово езеро

A glacial lake of Pirin below Vihren, the highest peak of the range at 2,914 m. Pirin is dotted with more than a hundred glacial lakes, and most of the range is protected as Pirin National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

How it formed

The lake lies in a cirque in the mountain meadows above Vihren Hut, at over 2,100 m, in the Banderitsa valley. Muratovo is the larger of two lakes on this path, with mirror-like reflections on calm days, and the mountains usually shelter it from the wind. A stream runs nearby.

Visit

Swimming

No reliable information

Tips

The road from Bansko to Vihren Hut (1,950 m) runs about 16–17 km up the Banderitsa valley, past Baikushev’s Pine. On busy days it is closed to cars from about 8 or 8:30 a.m., and parking at the hut fills early, so start early or use the taxi or the bus, which has run from February to mid-September.

From the hut, a marked trail along the stream reaches Muratovo in a round trip of about 4–5 km, with some 280 m of climbing and big rocks in places: allow 2 to 4 hours. Okoto is a short detour on the way, and a longer loop of about 11 km takes in the Ribno Banderishko lake. Swimming is not allowed in these lakes. Summer weekends can be busy, and late summer and early autumn are quieter. Check the weather first, as the mountains are very different from Bansko, and bring layers and water.