Biogradsko Jezero

Biogradsko Lake sits at 1,094 metres in the heart of Biogradska Gora National Park, in the Bjelasica massif of northeastern Montenegro. The lake is glacial in origin, roughly circular, and ringed so closely by forest that on still mornings the water holds a full reflection of the trees. It is the centrepiece of a park that protects something genuinely rare: one of the last remaining tracts of primeval forest in Europe, where beech, maple, elm, fir and sycamore have grown undisturbed for centuries and the tallest specimens exceed 50 metres and 500 years of age. The forest owes its survival to an early act of protection. In the late 19th century the surrounding highlands were set aside as a princely reserve, which spared them the logging that cleared comparable woodland elsewhere in the Balkans, and the area became a national park in 1952. Today the strict reserve covers the core of the valley, and the park as a whole extends up onto Bjelasica's open pastures, taking in several smaller glacial lakes and summits above 2,000 metres. Visiting is straightforward. A level, well-made path circles the lake in about an hour, giving the clearest sense of the old forest with almost no effort, and longer marked trails climb from the shore toward the katuns and ridges above the treeline. There is a campsite and cabin accommodation by the water, rowing boats in summer, and fishing in the lake and the streams that feed it. Wildlife is abundant if rarely obliging — deer, wild boar, and a large bird population through the canopy. The park suits walkers, families, photographers and anyone wanting a short, high-value stop between Kolašin and the north. June to October is the main season, with the beech turning spectacular colour through late September and October. Snow closes the higher trails in winter, though the lake itself remains a striking place to see.