Mavi Göl (Bayındır Barajı)

Twelve kilometres from the city centre on the Samsun road. The earth-fill dam on the Bayındır Stream was built between 1962 and 1965 to supply Ankara with drinking water: 30 metres high, holding 6.97 million cubic metres. Once large sources such as Çamlıdere came online it proved too small; in 2005 the Metropolitan Municipality turned the lakeside into a recreation area named Mavi Göl, the Blue Lake, and in 2011 the dam was reclassified by law for flood protection and left the drinking water inventory. The 1,138,081 square metre grounds have mature trees, picnic spots and walking paths; the name comes from the blue of the lake. It is reached by EGO public transport. Entering the water is dangerous and forbidden; weekend afternoons get crowded.