AT A GLANCE
Why go?
Bol'shaya Akulya (Большая Акуля) is a round, clear-water lake tucked into the forested lake country of Chelyabinsk Oblast, just a few kilometres from the town of Kyshtym and about 85 km northwest of Chelyabinsk. Set at roughly 250 m above sea level and spanning some 6.3 square kilometres, it is a popular weekend escape for the southern Urals — prized less for grand scenery than for the combination of clean water, quiet wooded shores with no villages cluttering the banks, and well-managed fishing.↗↗↗↗
The lake's name is said to mean 'clean' or 'clear', and that reputation is well earned: the water is fresh and transparent over a flat, sandy and silty bottom, ringed by mixed forest and belts of reed and cattail. Local sources translate the name as clear water, and the same channels that keep it flowing link it to neighbouring lakes Malaya Akulya and Akakul.↗↗↗
