Lac de Madine, Recreational reservoir in Meurthe-et-Moselle, France

Lac de Madine is an artificial lake straddling the Meuse and, to a lesser extent, Meurthe-et-Moselle departments in the Grand Est region, fed by the Madine river. It covers close to 1,100 hectares including two islands, Île Verte in the north and the larger Île du Bois-Gérard in the middle, holds 35 million m³ of water and reaches 14 m deep. Its shores form shallow bays lined with reeds and aquatic vegetation.

The lake was filled in 1971 on the course of the Madine, a tributary of the Moselle, in the Woëvre plain. Marshy ground there had been drained from the 12th to the 16th century by monks who dug channels and fish ponds. Leisure facilities followed between 1977 and 1979 and were reworked in 2014.

The name Madine comes from the nearby village and the surroundings are popular with families for weekend outings. Around the water you see walkers and cyclists on paths through woods and open meadows.

The area is suitable for day trips with picnic spots and parking close to access points. During summer there are supervised bathing sections and in other months the shoreline paths remain open for quiet walks.

The lake lies within a national hunting and wildlife reserve created in 1998, covering 1,735 hectares together with the Étang de Pannes. Its shallow bays and bankside vegetation draw a rich birdlife, and several quiet zones bar tourism, fishing and public access. The reserve is managed by the French Office for Biodiversity.