Lake of Lucerne

Lake Lucerne Vierwaldstättersee
View of Lake Lucerne from the Pilatus
map
Location	Central Switzerland
Coordinates	47°01′10″N 8°24′04″E / 47.0194°N 8.4011°E / 47.0194; 8.4011Coordinates: 47°01′10″N 8°24′04″E / 47.0194°N 8.4011°E / 47.0194; 8.4011
Lake type	freshwater fjord, recent regulation
Primary inflows	Reuss Muota Engelberger Aa Sarner Aa
Primary outflows	Reuss
Catchment area	2,124 km2 (820 sq mi)
Basin countries	Switzerland
Max. length	30 km (19 mi)
Max. width	20 km (12 mi)
Surface area	113.6 km2 (43.9 sq mi)
Average depth	104 m (341 ft)
Max. depth	214 m (702 ft)
Water volume	11.8 km3 (2.8 cu mi)
Residence time	3.4 years
Shore length1	143.7 km (89.3 mi)
Surface elevation	434 m (1,424 ft)
Frozen	in the 17th and 19th century; Lucerne Bay and Lake Alpnach in 1929 and 1963
Islands	Altstatt-Insel
Sections/sub-basins	Urnersee Gersauer Becken Buochser Bucht Vitznauer Bucht Chrütztrichter Küssnachtersee Alpnachersee Stanser Trichter Horwer Bucht Luzernersee
Settlements	Flüelen Brunnen Gersau Buochs Vitznau Weggis Küssnacht Alpnachstad Stansstad Hergiswil Lucerne
Website	http://www.lakelucerne.ch
References
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

Lake Lucerne (German: Vierwaldstättersee, literally "Lake of the Four Forested Settlements", French: lac des Quatre-Cantons, Italian: lago dei Quattro Cantoni) is a lake in central Switzerland and the fourth largest in the country.

The lake has a complicated shape, with several sharp bends and four arms. It starts in the south-north bound Reuss Valley between steep cliffs above the Urnersee from Flüelen towards Brunnen to the north before it makes a sharp bend to the west where it continues into the Gersauer Becken. Here is also the deepest point of the lake with 214 m (702 ft). Even more west of it is the Buochser Bucht, but the lake sharply turns north again through the narrow opening between the Unter Nas (lower nose) of the to the west and the Ober Nas (upper nose) of the Rigi to the east to reach the Vitznauer Bucht. In front of Vitznau below the Rigi the lake turns sharply west again to reach the center of a four-arm cross, called the Chrütztrichter (Cross Funnel). Here converge the Vitznauer Bucht with the Küssnachtersee from the north, the Luzernersee from the west, and the Horwer Bucht and the Stanser Trichter to the south, which is to be found right below the northeast side of the Pilatus and the west side of the Bürgenstock. At the very narrow pass between the east dropper of the Pilatus (called Lopper) and Stansstad the lake reaches its southwestern arm at Alpnachstad on the steep southern foothills of the Pilatus, the Alpnachersee. The lake drains its water in Lucerne from the literally correctly translated western arm Lake of Lucerne (Luzernersee) into the Reuss.

The entire lake has a total area of 114 km² (44 sq mi) at an elevation of 434 m (1,424 ft) a.s.l., and a maximum depth of 214 m (702 ft). Its volume is 11.8 km³. Much of the shoreline rises steeply into mountains up to 1,500 m above the lake, resulting in many picturesque views including those of the mountains Rigi and Pilatus.