In Silesia almost no large lake is natural. Reservoirs dammed the rivers, and former sand pits and clay pits were flooded by groundwater or by a river. The question “which water to head for” therefore needs one caveat: some of these bodies of water are drinking-water reservoirs or nature-use areas where swimming and sailing are prohibited. Below is a division into three kinds of water and what can be done with each of them.

Dams in the mountains and on the Vistula: water for the cities

Goczałkowice Lake is one of the largest artificial lakes in the region. It covers a maximum of 3200 ha, has a capacity of about 168 million m³ and supplies water to part of the Upper Silesian Industrial Region. Construction lasted from 1950 to 1955, and flooding the valley meant resettling about 2000 inhabitants from 428 farms. The idea of a reservoir in Silesia was put forward as early as the 1920s by Gabriel Narutowicz. Access to the water is restricted, because it is an intake, but one can walk along the crest of the dam between Goczałkowice-Zdrój and Zabrzeg. 258 bird species have been recorded at the reservoir, and the whole body of water lies in a Natura 2000 area, so it is a place more for observers than for swimmers.

Not far away, north of Goczałkowice, lies the Łąka Reservoir on the Pszczynka. It was created in the 1980s (sources give the year 1986 or 1987) so that the Rybnik mines would not have to draw industrial water from the drinking-water lake. It has a surface area of 3.53 km², and its shores serve as a recreation area.

In the Beskids the Soła forms a chain of three reservoirs. The largest is Żywiec Lake, completed in 1966: it is 6.6 km long, has a shoreline 33.7 km long and a depth of up to 26.8 m. Its construction flooded several villages, among them Tresna and Stary Żywiec. The shores are used for recreation, and regattas take place here in August. The water level can vary: during the drought of 2015 it dropped by about 2 m and exposed a large part of the bed.

Lower down, at the dam in Porąbka, lies Międzybrodzie Lake, older by almost thirty years, as it was created in 1937. The dam was designed by Professor Gabriel Narutowicz and the engineer Tadeusz Baecker. By the water stand two holiday villages, Międzybrodzie Bialskie and Międzybrodzie Żywieckie, and above the lake rises Mount Żar with a pumped-storage power station. This reservoir is used for recreation, unlike the neighbouring Czaniec Lake. This is a drinking-water reservoir for Katowice, Tychy and Bielsko-Biała, and it is subject to a ban on any water sports and on fisheries management. It is a body of water to look at from the shore, and active water recreation is planned at Międzybrodzie, about 4 km further on.

It is similar in Wisła. Czerniańskie Lake, also called Czarne, was created in 1973 as a retention reservoir and drinking-water reservoir. The dam is 37 m high, and nearby stands the Little Castle (Zameczek), the residence of the President of Poland. The rules for being by the water must be checked with the town office.

Water for sailing

Rybnik Lake was created for a power station and became a base for sailors. It has a surface area of 4.5 km², four side bays separated by causeways and several sailing clubs. The sailing season here lasts from April to October and is one of the longest in Poland, because the power station heated the water. The oldest units that used the lake were shut down at the end of 2023 and the water temperature fell. In January 2024 the reservoir froze over its whole surface. It is an important place for anglers: Polish records for catfish and carp were set here.

Poraj Lake on the Warta, near Częstochowa, has an area of 5.5 km² and 15 km of shoreline. It was built in 1978 for the ironworks in Częstochowa, and a holiday centre for its employees was created by the water. The Blachownia Reservoir is much smaller and shallow: it covers 47 ha, and its greatest depth is about 2 metres. The reservoir in Blachownia was created in the 1840s: the dammed water was meant to power machinery at a nearby ironworks, but this idea was abandoned. Today there is a boat hire and a sailing club (Omega and Optimist classes), and the reservoir also serves anglers.

Former sand pits and clay pits: water left by the mines

The largest group of Silesian lakes are pits left by the extraction of stowing sand, which was used to fill underground roadways in coal mines. After extraction ended, water filled the hollows.

Dzierżno Duże, near Pyskowice and Gliwice, filled two pits in 1964, when the waters of the Kłodnica were let into them. It covers 516 ha, is up to 20 metres deep, and its shoreline is 15.7 km long. It is a refuge for waterfowl of regional importance. The reservoir also serves as a settling basin that cleans the water of the Kłodnica, and the heavily polluted waters of this river feed the lake, so before going into the water it is worth checking the municipal notices.

Chechło-Nakło Lake in the municipality of Świerklaniec is one of the main destinations for swimming and sunbathing north of the conurbation. It was created in a pit of the “Siemonia” Stowing Sand Mine and was officially opened for recreational use on 27 June 1970. It covers about 90 ha, has one wooded island, forested shores and, in season, a guarded bathing area. Alongside runs the route of the Upper Silesian Narrow-Gauge Railways. A few kilometres further on are the historic mines of Tarnowskie Góry.

In Jaworzno there is Sosina, a reservoir of 50 ha on the site of the “Szczakowa” sand pit, with a guarded bathing area in the south-western part and an amphitheatre. In the middle of the water lies an island with a waterfowl reserve.

In Dąbrowa Górnicza stands the Pogoria cascade. Pogoria II was created in 1976-1978 in the Gołonóg II sand pit and covers about 26 ha. It is an example of a reservoir that is not treated as a bathing place: it lies in an ecological use area, a colony of about 200 pairs of black-headed gulls nests in the reed beds, and numerous bans apply across the whole body of water. Walking, cycling and angling are possible. Much larger is Kuźnica Warężyńska, popularly called Pogoria IV, although there is no hydrological justification for this. It was opened on 25 August 2005, covers 560 ha, is 23 m deep and has about 13 km of shoreline, of which only about 15 per cent are beaches and access points to the water. The rest is escarpments and reeds, so there are few places to enter the lake.

In Sosnowiec there is also Balaton, dug as a clay pit for the brickworks of the “Kazimierz-Juliusz” mine. It covers 9.7 ha and averages 1.2 m in depth. The “Klimontów” mine set up a recreation centre here in the 1970s, and in summer residents still visit the place, although the area is devastated and in need of revitalisation.

How to choose water for a trip

Access to the shores, bathing rules and season dates change, and in many cases depend on the manager of the reservoir or the municipality, so check them in the municipality's notices before you go.