Lake Salda

Overview

Come over the last hill near Yeşilova, and a sheet of turquoise water appears below pine-covered slopes. Along its edge, the shore is white as snow, but it is made of minerals, not sand. Before NASA’s Perseverance rover landed on Mars in 2021, scientists studied these white rocks because they resemble the crater where it was going to land. This is Lake Salda.

Lake Salda is a deep, clear lake, and today it is strictly protected. So come to look, walk and photograph, and treat the white shore with care. For ten days with a camera, see our Turkey photography tour.

Lake Salda, Turkey’s White-Shored Lake

Lake Salda lies in the Yeşilova district of Burdur province, in the Lakes Region of southwestern Turkey. Our Pamukkale tour from Antalya stops at the lake on the way. The town of Yeşilova is about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) to the east, while the city of Burdur lies to the east, along the Burdur–Denizli highway.

The ministry describes it as Turkey’s deepest lake. Since 2019, the government has also protected it as a Special Environmental Protection Area.

Why Lake Salda Is White and Blue

The white shore

The white color comes from hydromagnesite, a mineral that forms in the very alkaline water of the lake. Over time, microbes trap minerals and sediment and build rocks called microbialites, or stromatolites. These structures were once a major form of life on Earth. At Lake Salda, such microbial mats still grow.

The turquoise water

Because the water carries few nutrients, very little algae grows in it. So the lake stays clear, and the light over the white bottom turns the shallows turquoise. Further out, however, the deep water looks dark blue.

Lake Salda and Mars

In 2019, planetary scientists from the United States and Turkey studied the shoreline rocks of Lake Salda. They wanted to prepare for NASA’s Mars 2020 mission, whose Perseverance rover would search for signs of ancient life. Lake Salda is the only known lake on Earth with carbonate minerals and deltas similar to those of Jezero Crater, where the rover landed in February 2021. So when you stand on this shore, you are looking at a small piece of Mars on Earth.

A Healing Lake?

For generations, people have bathed in Lake Salda for their skin. The water contains magnesium, soda and clay, and many believe it helps with acne and other skin problems. In summer, the climate is warm and dry, while winters are cold.

Nature Around the Lake

Around the lake, too, black pine forests cover the hills. In winter, also, large numbers of ducks gather on the water, including pochards, tufted ducks and the rare white-headed duck. The lake also has fish found nowhere else, for example a small endemic species the locals call Salda yosunbalığı. Partridges, hares, foxes and wild boars also live in the forest.

However, the lake is shrinking. In recent years, its level has dropped, and small white islands have appeared as the water fell.

How to Visit Lake Salda

Getting to Lake Salda

• By car: drive to Yeşilova in Burdur province; the lake lies just west of the town.
• On a road trip: combine it with the white terraces of Pamukkale, another mineral wonder of the region.
• From the coast: drive inland from Antalya and its old town, Kaleiçi.
• Ancient ruins nearby: the Roman city of Sagalassos stands high in the mountains near Ağlasun, also in Burdur province.

Local tips for Lake Salda

• Follow the marked paths and protection rules, because the white shore is fragile.
• Do not take stones or minerals, since the whole area is protected.
• Come in spring or early autumn, when the light is soft.
• Add a Roman city: the stadium and marble Medusa of Kibyra, the City of Gladiators, near Gölhisar; our Kibyra tour walks its road, theater and stadium.

For a very different lake landscape, see the seven forest lakes of Yedigöller near Bolu, or nearby Lake Eğirdir in the Lakes Region.