Lake at Kleihügel

Lake at Kleihügel
	Lake at Kleihügel from the south.
Geographical location	Minden-Lübbecke district
Tributaries	Groundwater
Drain	adjustable overflow to the Great Aue
Location close to the shore	Espelkamp
	Data
Coordinates	52 ° 23 '27 " N , 8 ° 35' 8" E Coordinates: 52 ° 23 '27 " N , 8 ° 35' 8" E
surface	5.6 ha
length	415 m
width	170 m

View from the west of the lake in midsummer

Sign board. The somewhat outdated map still shows three islands in the Kleihügelsee. In contrast to the actual situation, the bathing beach is only shown for the north shore of the lake

Location of the two lakes

The lake at Kleihügel , also known as Kleihügelsee , is the more northerly of two lakes in the East Westphalian town of Espelkamp in North Rhine-Westphalia , which lie west of the city center in the floodplain of the river Große Aue . The lakes were created for recreational purposes and are located on the shore of the river dikes. To the south of the lake is the Große Aue-See nature reserve with the Großer Auesee . Further south there is another lake, it is a sack-like extension of the Great Aue and is called the Auebucht

Location, origin and use

400 m downstream from the Großer Auesee, the lake on the Kleihügel begins to the left of the river, 415 m long and 100–170 m wide. Its water surface covers 5.6 hectares and it is fed exclusively by groundwater. The water level of the lake is regulated by a contactor on the outlet into the Große Aue. It does not belong to the Große Aue-See nature reserve . In the southern part of the Kleihügelsee there is an island of around 2000 m². There are three large maple trees in a row, which are obviously more than 30 years old and therefore older than the lake. The rest of the island is covered with dense vegetation (reeds, tall grass, bushes, etc.). Only from the west bank of the island does a path lead to the trees in the center of the island. The other and smaller islands in the lake often shown in older maps are no longer available today.

Due to the many bays and headlands, the shore length of the lake is quite long at around 1,250 meters. In addition, there is around 150 meters of shore of the island mentioned.

Owned by the town of Espelkamp, it serves the residents of the town and the neighboring towns of Rahden (4 km away) and Lübbecke (8 km) as a bathing lake - it is the only bathing lake in the old Lübbecke district . The lake is also attractive because, unlike the other three bathing lakes in the Minden-Lübbecke district, swimming here is free. However, there is no lifeguard. The service infrastructure is limited to a few rubbish bins and a toilet house on the west bank. There are numerous park benches along the circular lake hike. In the area of the main beach on the north bank there is a beach volleyball field. The grassy areas between the lake and the circular hiking trail, which can be used as a sunbathing lawn, cover around 3 hectares.

The Espelkamp bathing lake can be reached via a footpath and bike path on a footbridge near the southern end and from the car park on the L 770.

Trivia

Although the Kleihügelsee is the largest and only bathing lake in the Altkreis Lübbecke , neither it nor the Große Auesee are the largest lakes in this area: In the Großer Torfmoor , the centrally located, nameless moor lake has a total of 9 hectares of continuous water.