Blue Lake

St Bathans originally lay in a small gully. After a decade of mining, Kildare Hill, which enclosed the town on one side, had been flattened and by 1936, as a result of extensive hydraulic mining, there was a lake. The lake bottom was some 40 metres below the town's main street and was filled with mineral enriched water. This is what has given the lake its blue appearance.

Blue Lake

There is a two-kilometre walking track in construction around Blue Lake. This will be finished in December 2007. Suitable for all ages this will allow visitors to walk right round the lake amongst the sluicings and mining remnants. The relics are typical of the equipment used to literally take a hillside away and create Blue Lake. At any time of year walkers can also experience the climatic extremes miners worked in: freezing cold winters and searing hot summers.