Colourful Lakes of the Muskau Arch

The colourful lakes of the Muskau Arch are best explored on the "Former Babina Mine" geotourism trail between Nowe Czaple and Łęknica. These are not natural lakes but flooded pits and subsidence hollows left by a lignite mine that operated here from 1921 to 1973. Their water turns rusty orange, emerald or blue, and the largest of them – Lake Afryka (Africa) – is as acidic as vinegar.

History: a mine on a glacial horseshoe

The Muskau Arch is a horseshoe-shaped moraine, open to the north, pushed up by the ice sheet; its arms span just over 20 km, and the Lusatian Neisse flows through its middle. The glacier folded the rock layers and the lignite seams with them – which is why coal was mined here both underground and in open pits. The Babina mine opened in 1921; in 1935–1939 it produced about 225,000 tonnes of coal a year, and the nearby briquette factory in Łęknica turned out more than 75,000 tonnes of briquettes, among others for the power station in Nowe Czaple. After the war it operated as the "Friendship of Nations Mine – Babina Shaft", worked open pit "C" in 1964–1968, and closed at the end of 1973.

After reclamation the pits filled with water. The Muskau Arch Landscape Park was created here in 2001, in 2009 the area became Poland's first national geopark, and in 2015 – together with the German side – a UNESCO Global Geopark.

What to see on the trail

• Lake Afryka – the largest post-mining lake on the Polish side of the Muskau Arch, named after the shape of its shoreline: 20.2 ha, 896 m long and up to 24 m deep. A full loop around it is 2,625 m.
• The "Elephant's Back" peninsula – an elongated spoil heap of overburden that from afar looks like the back of the animal.
• The acidic iron spring – mineral crusts build up around the outflow, formed with the help of iron-loving bacteria.
• Lakes of different colours – rusty-orange ponds sit right next to green and blue ones; from a viewpoint on a high bank you look down on a lake with clear, emerald water.
• Traces of mining – part of the yellow-brick lining of the inclined shaft VIa, the old mine road, subsidence hollows above underground workings and coal outcrops in the banks.

Did you know?

The colour of the water is pure chemistry. Pyrite in the coal seams breaks down to form sulphuric acid – the water of Lake Afryka has a pH of 3.0, as acidic as vinegar, and its brownish-red colour near the shore comes from iron compounds. Neutralising such water takes many decades, so the character of each lake also depends on its age – ponds in the older pits near Tuplice are now used as fish ponds. The Muskau Arch itself is said to be the only terminal moraine on Earth visible from space.

Tripto tips

The trail is about 4–5 km long, starting on the old mine road south of ul. Kopalniana in Nowe Czaple and ending near the former brickworks in Łęknica; the information boards are marked with letters, so you can walk it in either direction. Allow 2–3 hours including the loop around Afryka. The colours show best in sunshine – on a cloudy day the water looks far more modest. Do not go into the water or let dogs in: it is strongly acidic. Wear sturdy shoes, as the banks can be slippery after rain, and stay on the marked path. The trip combines easily with Muskau Park in Łęknica, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.