Lake Synevyr

At around 980 metres in the Zakarpattia mountains, below Mount Ozerna, Synevyr holds the Carpathians' favourite mirror and the largest lake of the Ukrainian Carpathians: a lake dammed some ten thousand years ago when an earthquake brought sandstone down off Mount Krasna, its water seeping out through the natural dam to resurface 350 metres away, whose dark spruce ring and tiny central island earned it the 'sea eye' name and the obligatory legend of lovers Syn and Vyr, carved larger than life at the shore. The national park around it, set up in 1989, keeps brown bear country and sub-alpine meadows - its rehabilitation centre for rescued bears is the region's conservation showpiece - and the boardwalk circuit of the lake, mist willing, delivers reflections that justify every postcard the range has printed.

What you'll find

• The sea eye - the island pupil in the spruce-ringed mirror.
• The shore carvings - Syn and Vyr's wooden legend.
• The bear centre - rescued bruins in forest enclosures nearby.
• The meadow trails - sub-alpine walking above the lake.

When to go

May to October for open roads and green mirrors; early mornings give the stillest reflections before day-trippers arrive.

Good to know

On site: the lake circuit is short and popular - the deeper park rewards those who walk beyond the boardwalk; mountain weather rewrites afternoons without notice.

Nearby

Mizhhiria's valleys and the Carpathian ridge trails.

Key facts