Friday, December 25, 2009

Badab Soort Natural Spring

The Badab Soort Natural Spring (باداب سورت) is located south of Sari and is considered one of the most incredible sights of its region. It is at a height of 1,841 meters above sea level and just west of the village or Orost. It is believed that the Spring was created during the Paleocene Era and at the same time as the latest folds in the Alborz mountain range.  


The Badab Soort Spring is actually comprised of two separate springs with completely different colored and scented water. The first spring contains very salty water that gathers in a small natural pool. During the summers locals swim in the pool and believe its water is useful for curing back aches, rheumatism and skin diseases. The second spring has a sour taste and is predominately orange mainly due to the large iron oxide sediments at its outlet. Over the course of thousands of years the water from these two springs emanating from the mountain range have combined and resulted in a number of orange, red and yellow colored pools shaped as a naturally formed staircase. The surrounding vegetation to the north consists of pine trees forests while to the east we mainly see short trees and shrubs. To the west are rock quarries.  


The Orost village and Badab Soort Spring are easily accessible through Semnan with most of the way being paved and vehicles being capable of utilizing the dirt roads leading up to the spring. The best time to visit the area is undoubtedly during either sunrise or sunset when the sun’s orange reflection blends in perfectly with the colored spring. The Badab Soort Spring has been registered as a national heritage site.  


Much like many other natural and artificial landmarks in Iran, the Badab Soort Spring was in danger of gradual erosion and eventual demise. Thanks to the efforts of Lavasan’s Hiking Committee, and in particular that of Nader Zarrabian, much work has been done in order to restore the natural atmosphere of the Spring.

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