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Pike's Lake (Lake Sacalaia)

At a 10 km's (6 miles) distance you can find maybe the most beautiful Flatland Lake of Cluj County. Known as "Pike's Lake" or "Pike's Lake", Sacalaia Lake is situated in the Bont Valley, an affluent of the Fizes River between the communes Fizesu Gherlii and Sic.

Pike's Lake (Lake Sacalaia)

It is a natural lake of fresh and clear water, supplied by some streams and numerous springs which guarantee its relatively constant volume.

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It is a natural lake of fresh and clear water, supplied by some streams and numerous springs which guarantee its relatively constant volume. The lake surface is altogether 26 hectares large and it is about 10 meters deep, thus being the deepest freshwater lake in the country. The thicket, especially the one uphill takes up about 120 hectares. Thus the lake, together with the surrounding thicket and the one in the tributary valleys constitute a complex ecosystem characteristic of humid areas.

Pike's Lake (Lake Sacalaia) is considered a natural monument for various reasons. Besides its largeness and depth, it is the only lake in Romania on the surface of which floating thicket formations can be found just like those in the Danube Delta. It is the only natural lake in Transylvania that underwent a minimal negative influence done to it by humans, greatly due to its natural reservation status as of 1966. Fishing as a sport is permitted especially due to its pike population where it takes its name from.

Besides pike, the lake offers a large variety of fishes among which the most important species would be: salmon, crucian, carp, flounder. Sometimes the measurements of these fish are really "monstrous": 3 meter long salmon, 7 meter long pikes! Fishing is only permitted from a boat and it is forbidden at times of the fish emerging to the surface.

Sometimes, in the fall, when the water suddenly cools down, the creatures of the lake emerge to the surface to supply their oxygen needs. This "apparition" is being followed by a sulfurous smell coming from the bottom of the lake. The phenomenon lasts for a few days which should be a good occasion for myth hunters to lurch for the monsters that dwell in the lake..
Besides the fact that the lake offers buffs the possibility for fishing, in the area scouting, bird watching and camping are permitted. The lake provides a resting place for migrant birds. In this natural reservation over 100 kinds of birds were identified, some of them known to be very rare ones in Europe. The area of Pike's Lake is a natural reservation due to its surrounding thicket where a lot of birds and different other animals live, some of which haven't even been logged.

Pike's Lake (Lake Sacalaia) is situated on an old salt exploitation, near an ancient Roman road along which, at that time, one could find little settlements of the miners one next to the other. The massive vein of salt that passes from Dej to Turda has its route right under the lake, but today the lake features only fresh water due to warping which hinders the water to come into contact with the salt. It is considered the deepest lake in Transylvanian Plateau due to tectonics and the processes of dissolution in salt. The actual depth of the lake is not known. Officially it is said that its depth is 10 - 12 meters. But some Austrian divers dived down to 28 meters emerging without touching the bottom. It is also said that during the Roman occupation the lake swallowed a settlement because when the water was very clear one could see the rooftop of a basilica. Experienced swimmers would challenge a dive in that direction but due to a vortex that was formed at the basilica swimmers were taken pray. For 30 years sediment has been covering the settlement and the basilica cannot be seen any more.

Legend says that at a certain place of the bottom lies the gate to a different hemisphere, or to different worlds. This gate is patrolled by strange beings of the lake, like fire spitting dragons that smell sulfur reminding of mythical watchmen of an esoteric world..

Monster beings, missing people, a road to different world, strange apparitions make Pike's Lake (Lake Sacalaia) the Loch Ness of Transylvania.