Yelovoye Lake, Protected lake in Chebarkulsky District, Russia

Yelovoye Lake is a natural water body located in Chebarkulsky District within the Chelyabinsk Oblast region. The protected status safeguards the lake and its surrounding natural environment from development.

Yelovoye was declared a hydrological natural monument, a status it shared with nearby Bolshoy Kisegach. In 2009 that protection was withdrawn and the territory was reclassified as a resort area, a climatic health locality. The change shifted the lake's official role from nature monument to spa and recreation zone.

The name comes from the Bashkir "yily" (warm), though locals also link it to "yilyu"; geographer Nikolai Shuvalov noted no spruce grows anywhere near the lake, so the Russian name Yelovoye ("spruce") is misleading. The lake is the only one in this group of Bashkir-named lakes with a Russian name.

The lake lies 1.5 km from Chebarkul and 90 km west of Chelyabinsk, with Yekaterinburg 275 km, Ufa 303 km and Kurgan 360 km away. Sanatoria, children's camps and rest bases line the shore, and the water warms early because the lake is sheltered from winds. Depths increase sharply close to the steep banks, so enter the water with care.

The name comes from the Bashkir "yily", meaning warm, not from spruce trees: geographer Nikolai Shuvalov noted that no spruce grows anywhere near the lake. The water is genuinely warm because the lake is small and sheltered from winds.