pink lake

One of these natural attractions is Maharloo Lake near Shiraz in Iran.

Introduction of Maharloo Lake

One of the landscapes that may have been seen in the photos is the beautiful landscape of Maharloo Lake in Fars province. Many tourists and nature lovers on their trip to the beautiful city of Shiraz and watching its magnificent historical and cultural monuments, make their way to this amazing lake to take a souvenir photo next to it. The fame of this lake is reminiscent of its red color. Maharloo is located in the southeast of Shiraz city and 57 km from Shiraz to Fasa. This lake is located next to a village of the same name, a village that dates back to the Safavid era and in ancient times it was called Dasht-e Gol.

Maharloo is a red lake

Apart from the beautiful Maharloo Lake, Maharloo village also has a high potential for tourism. This village is located on the southern slopes of the high mountains of Zagros. The houses of this village have high arches and their arched windows give it a beautiful appearance. Scattered gardens full of almond, pomegranate and fig trees that have been created near the village mineral spring have added to the beauty of Maharloo. Many villagers believe that the water of this spring is healing and cures skin diseases. If you are a pilgrim, you can go to the shrine of Khadijeh Banu, which is located on a hill in the village. Near the village, the remains of a caravanserai related to the Safavid era called Shah Abbasi Caravanserai can be seen.

But of all these historical and natural attractions, after that, we come across the most important attraction of this village. Maharloo Lake used to be much larger than the current lake and now, unfortunately, it is now dry. It has been done directly to rehabilitate the lake, which has helped to increase its water level to some extent. Maharloo Lake is home to many species of migratory and non-migratory birds. This lake can also be called a salt lake, because its water is salty. Due to the drying of most parts of the lake, the bed of some of its cases is covered with salt and it is used as a source of salt in Shiraz. Maharloo is one of the strange natural attractions of Fars province, which, with its red color, hosts nature lovers from inside and outside the country.

Maharloo Strange Lake

The depth of the lake varies in different parts of it and depends on the rainfall. In most parts of it, the water depth is half a meter, and in the deep parts, the depth is three meters. The water of this lake, which unfortunately does not have very favorable conditions, is supplied from several fresh water springs in its north, rain showers and Hamzeh, Khoshk and Sarvestan rivers.

Why is Lake Maharloo red?

The evaporation rate of this lake is very high. Extreme evaporation of Maharloo Lake water has increased its salinity and added a red seaweed called "Red Tide". Excessive growth and reproduction of this algae has been created in this lake so that all its water turns red and no living thing can survive in an aquatic island called Artima.

The best travel season

Maharloo is a seasonal lake and most of it dries up in summer. With the onset of rainfall in autumn and winter, the water level of the lake increases again. From autumn to mid-May is the best season to visit this lake.

Amazing Maharloo Lake

Access route to Maharloo lake in Fars province

From the beauties of Shiraz that you saw, enter the road from Shiraz to Fasa. You will reach the beginning of the lake in about 20 km and if you continue the route, you will reach Maharloo village after about 57 km.

This precious lake needs protection and revitalization more than ever. It was a few years ago that the lake's water dried up completely and life came back to it again thanks to proper rainfall. The red color of the lake may present a strange and beautiful landscape to the eyes of tourists, but the fact is that the deadly presence of red has put plant and animal life in great danger. We hope that the intellectual authorities will take advantage of this very valuable natural resource in Fars and save it from the danger of complete drying up.