Lake Khövsgöl

Lake Khövsgöl is a long blade of exceptionally clear water laid across the far north of Mongolia, 1,645 metres above sea level and only a short distance from the Russian border. It stretches about 136 km from north to south and is at most some 36 km wide, covering roughly 2,760 km². With a maximum depth of 267 metres and a volume of around 380 km³, it holds close to 70 percent of Mongolia's fresh water and about 0.4 percent of all the fresh water on the planet. Only Uvs Lake is larger in surface area within the country.

The lake is among the world's ancient lakes, more than two million years old, and it is regarded as one of the least disturbed of them. Its waters are so poor in nutrients that visibility often reaches beyond 18 metres. At the southern end the Egiin Gol carries the outflow away; that water eventually joins the Selenge and reaches Lake Baikal after a journey of over 1,000 km and a drop of more than 1,100 metres. In winter the surface freezes completely. Lorries once crossed the ice as a shortcut, a practice since banned to keep fuel and oil out of the water.

The surrounding mountains and larch taiga form a national park larger than Yellowstone. Fish in the lake include lenok, burbot, Eurasian perch and the endangered Hovsgol grayling, found nowhere else, while ibex, argali, elk, musk deer, brown bear, wolf, wolverine and sable live in the hills around it. The main settlement is Khatgal on the southern shore, founded in 1727 as a post in the Mongolian border watch system and once the regional administrative centre before that role moved to Mörön in 1933; Khankh sits at the northern tip.

Getting there

Mörön, the capital of Khövsgöl Province, lies about 165 km from the centre of the lake; Khatgal, at the southern end, is the usual starting point and has its own airstrip. The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Mörön Airport (MXV), about 162 km away in a straight line.