Nohur Lake near Gabala: A Practical Guide

Nohur Lake lies in the forested hills of Gabala, in the north of Azerbaijan. The tourism board calls it one of the most popular and most visited natural sights in the district. Dense forest and mountains surround it.

This page is about the lake alone. It gives the size and setting, what you can do, and what no official source tells you. Figures come from the Gabala district government. Activities come from azerbaijan.travel and the Tufandag resort. Our Gabala guide covers the town and the rest of the district.

The lake in figures

The Gabala district government published these figures in a 2017 news item. They are the only official set we found.

Feature	Figure from the district
Height above sea level	700 m
Depth	24 m
Length	1,925 m
Width	1,355 m
Area	240 ha
Volume of water	16 million m³
Rivers flowing in	Demiraparan and Vandam

For a sense of scale, the lake is almost 2 km from end to end.

Some travel sites give quite different numbers for area and height. They do not say where their figures come from. We use the district’s set.

What you can do

The tourism board lists the main things people come for.

• Boat rides on the water.
• Walks along the shore and in the hills around it.
• Fishing.
• Horse rides by the water.

The board also says the lake has some of the best views of the Caucasus in the area. It is a quiet place, and that is most of its appeal. Gabala itself is the district’s centre for more active days, with skiing, quad bikes and paragliding.

Walking in from Tufandag

The Tufandag mountain resort runs a guided walk to the lake. It lists it among its trekking tours.

Walk detail	What the resort states
Name	Nohur Lake Tour
Length	10.8 km
Time	About 6 hours
Level	Suitable for beginners

Six hours is a full day, even at an easy grade. Wear proper shoes and carry water and a warm layer. Book through the resort, which runs the walk with its own guides. Our Tufandag guide covers the resort itself.

When to go

The tourism board points to autumn in particular. In its feature on the country’s lakes, it describes maples and beeches turning yellow and red around the water.

Boats and horse rides depend on who runs them and on the weather. No official timetable is published. If one of them is the reason for your trip, let us check before you travel.

What no official source says

We could not find official rules on several points. Treat these as open questions.

• Whether swimming is allowed, and where.
• Whether fishing needs a permit.
• Hours or prices for boat hire.
• Any fee to reach the shore.

We would rather leave a gap than fill it with a guess. A driver who knows the area can ask on the day.

Getting there

The tourism board describes Gabala as lying near the lake. It also notes that a passenger train runs between Baku and Gabala. We plan the trip by road, door to door, so you are not left at a station.

A bit of history nearby

Gabala is an old place. The tourism board notes that Old Gabala was once the capital of Caucasian Albania. That ancient state covered much of present-day Azerbaijan. In Soviet times the district carried another name, Gutgashinli.

The village of Vandam

One of the two rivers that feed the lake is the Vandam. It shares its name with a village in the same district. The tourism board describes Vandam as a wooded spot with small houses under A-shaped roofs, where you can spend a few days in nature. Evenings round a fire and mornings on a terrace are the whole idea. If the lake is your reason to come, Vandam is a natural place to stay a night or two.

The lake in the news

The lake once played a small part in a big event. In 2017 Baku hosted the 4th Islamic Solidarity Games. Before the Games, a water journey set off from the Caspian Sea and moved through the regions. The district government reports that Gabala’s leg began by taking water from Nohur Lake. Local athletes and a schoolgirl filled the vessel and carried it into town for a festival.

Arranging it

RH Travel can plan a day or a weekend in Gabala with the lake in it. We can add the guided walk from Tufandag, or keep it to a slow afternoon by the water. Send us your dates and we will build the plan.