Brabrand Lake 3.07

Brabrand Lake is a lake in the district of Brabrand, west of Aarhus city, Denmark. The Aarhus River passes through Brabrand Lake and it is possible to canoe all the way to the inner city from here. The lake is oblong-shaped.Since 2003, Brabrand Lake has been steadily extended 3–4 km further west, with the new lake of Årslev Engsø . In 2001–2, it was politically decided to abandon the artificial draining of the meadows and as of 2013, Årslev meadow lake has a surface area of around 100ha. The total area including adjoining meadows and reed beds totals 240ha. It is hoped that Eurasian bittern and otter will find themselves a new home here with time. In everyday parlance, "Brabrand Lake" is a general term including the surroundings as well, indicating a total area of around 560ha with 253ha for the lake alone.A special Natura2000 protected area under the European Union, Brabrand Lake is home to a large variety of birds and an important resting place for migrating birds, with several towers built to facilitate bird-watching. A public hiking trail surrounds the lake, whose landscape varies from wide meadows and reed beds to dense woods. Privately-owned pastures almost completely surround the lake and are not publicly accessible, but public paths leading to the lake are scattered in between. There are several garden allotments near Brabrand Lake and it is a popular recreational spot. It is a statutory goal of the Aarhus municipality to make the area publicly accessible and attractive to the public.