Lake Okonie

Lake Okonie lies in the western part of Golczewo, in the channel of the Niemica River, between Lake Szczuczy and Lake Samlino. It covers 51.31 ha and is very shallow: the average depth is about one metre and the greatest is 1.8 m. For a visitor, more important than the figures is that most of the shores are inaccessible, and the lake can be viewed from designated places.

What the lake looks like

It is a channel lake with an even shoreline, classed in the fishery typology as a bream lake. The shore is overgrown with a belt of reeds, with clumps of alder, willow and poplar and scrub on it. The lake is heavily eutrophic. The Niemica flows out of Okonie, although the river is generally held to rise in nearby Lake Szczuczy, to which Okonie is joined by a watercourse. The lake has had its present name since 1949; before that its German name was Untersee.

Viewpoint and walk

An ornithological viewpoint has been set up in the southern part of the lake. The Niemica Valley Trail runs round the lake from the south and west: the section around the lake is 1.5 km long, and the whole trail is 17.5 km and circular, starting and ending in Golczewo. To the north, beyond the railway line, lies the Las Samliński nature and landscape complex.

Nearby

Between Okonie and Szczuczy, on an isthmus, an early medieval stronghold with double ramparts from the 9th-13th centuries has survived, today hard to read, once surrounded by marshes. About a quarter of a kilometre to the south-east stands the tower of the former castle of the Bishops of Kamień, described as the Castle Tower in Golczewo.

Practical information

• Town: Golczewo, Kamień County.
• Access: along the Niemica Valley Trail from the south and west of the lake (1.5 km around the lake).
• The shores are largely inaccessible, so the lake is viewed from the viewpoint and from the trail.