Lake Bełdany is located in the largest glacial valley in Poland. Most of the gutter is filled with water, and the lakes formed in it are connected. From the south, the following lakes are: Nidzkie, Guzianka Wielka, Guzianka Mała, Bełdany, Mikołajskie, Tałty, Ryńskie. The next two: Lead and Orło are connected by non-navigable channels. It is one of the longest natural sections for sailing on inland waters in Poland.
The lake has an area of 944 hectares. The maximum length is 12.4 kilometers and the maximum width is 2.4 kilometers. The average depth is 10 meters. At the deepest point from the bottom to the surface it is 46 meters. There are 5 islands on the lake. The shores of the lake are high, steep and forested. Eighty percent of the immediate surroundings of the lake are the Piska Forest complexes. The bottom of the reservoir is varied, with numerous deep holes, the shoreline is strongly developed with a length of 33 kilometers. Due to the considerable average depth, the bottom is rather sandy and hard, only in the shallow bays there are reeds and silt.
The largest town in the area is Ruciane-Nida, but the surrounding lakes are connected and people staying overnight in Mikołajki or even further go here for one-day trips. On the very shore, it is worth mentioning Wygryny, Piaski, Kamień and Wierzba. All these places provide services for tourists planning to rest by the water. Local tourism focuses on serving sailors and motorboats. There are several marinas with very large capacity and various equipment, as well as ports offering year-round service, including boat storage and repairs. On the shores of the lake you can also find many campgrounds and wild camping sites. Near the connection with Lake Mikołajskie, near the village of Wierzba, there is a car ferry that crosses Lake Bełdany.
Bełdany cruise ship
The m / s “Bełdany” – type SPJD (SJD-190), built in 1965 at the Tczew River Shipyard in Tczew, flows on the lake and its vicinity. Length – 33.56 m, width – 6.10 m, draft – 0.95 m. Drive – 195 HP diesel engine. It takes 140 passengers on board. Captain Zenon Gromysz is in command of the unit. The ship belongs to Żegluga Mazurska.
In Wierzba, there is an extensive yacht port and the Creative Work Center of the Polish Academy of Sciences. From Wierzba to the south, the lake runs along a narrow bed in a solid forest wall. Polish horses, relatives of the tarpans, who live here wild in a fenced forest area, belonging to the experimental station of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Popielno, often come out to the eastern shore. It happens that they approach camping sailors and demand bread – they are usually gentle, but you have to be careful, because they are wild animals after all.
Bicycle route around the lake – Bełdany Loop. It is the third longest route in the Ruciane-Nida commune. It is just over 39 kilometers long. The route leads through the following villages: Ruciane-Nida – Guzianka – Wejsuny – Onufryjewo – Popielno – Wierzba – Iznota – Wygryny – Guzianka – Ruciane-Nida. On the route we pass: the lock in Guzianka, the historic windmill, Onufryjewo – a beautiful settlement, which was founded by the Old Believers, a Polish horse reserve, close to the route in the place where the trail leads to Wierzba is the Research Station of the Polish Academy of Sciences, a boulder that was dedicated to Miłosz , three beautiful lakes located in the middle of the forest.
Lake Bełdany enjoys considerable popularity among anglers, in the season along the coastal reeds there are whole armadas of fishing boats. The following fish species can be found in Bełdany: crucian carp, pike perch, pike, perch, eel, bream, roach. The lake is stocked all year round by the user – Gospodarstwo Rybackie Mikołajki. The bottom of this lake is very varied with various types of ground, including rocky bottom, loved by zanders. The area of O.W. Galindia, Gołego Rożek and Wygryn. The lake also abounds in a large number of coastal reeds, which, especially in autumn, are a feeding place for a large population of pike. Due to its gutter structure and quite steep shores, the lake is a very popular fishery for pike, perch and zander. Perches, especially the most developed ones, patrol the depths and it is worth looking for them near underwater hills or coastal slopes. Bełdany, despite being in the Land of the Great Masurian Lakes, is one of the most fishy reservoirs in this region.
