Caumasee

About

Caumasee (Romansh: Lag la Cauma or Lai da Cauma) is a lake near Flims, in the Grisons, Switzerland. It is one of the lakes on the Flims Rockslide deposits. The lake is fed from underground sources. Its surface area is 10.3194 ha.

The lake level varies by approximately 4 to 5 meters, depending on underground water flow throughout the year; it reaches its minimum by the end of April, when snowmelt in the mountains increases. A maximum level is reached by mid July, but may be topped in August, even after a previous fall due to summer rain. The very western bay never freezes in winter, probably showing a maximum water flow in this area.

When the lake is at a low level, with a small volume of water, it warms up sooner than most lakes in the region, so people can be seen swimming in the lake in April, while bigger lakes, even in lower areas of Switzerland, remain relatively calm—water temperature in summer averages 21 Celsius, with a maximum around 24 Celsius.

The lake is in a vast forest that was left to remain on the agriculturally useless debris from the most significant prehistoric rockslide in the Alps. It can only be reached by a footpath (wheelchair accessible), possibly using Caumasee-Lift, a funicular built in 1939, refurbished in 1988 on its original tracks (running May to October only). The walk from the edge of town to the funicular takes about 10 minutes.

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)。Photography via Wikimedia Commons.