Lago della Ninfa, Mountain lake in Sestola, Italy

Lago della Ninfa is a mountain lake sitting at roughly 1500 meters elevation on the northeastern slopes of Monte Cimone, surrounded by beech and conifer forests. The lake bottom is paved with asphalt and its water level is maintained by an artificial fountain system.

Lago della Ninfa formed along a large landslide and is now kept artificially at 1,500 metres on the slopes of Monte Cimone in the municipality of Sestola. The slopes around it were once bare, as old postcards show, with only a few centuries-old beeches standing. German forces occupying Sestola cut nearly all of them for firewood during the Second World War; one surviving beech still stands beside a nearby refuge.

The name Ninfa is tied to the lake itself, and the surrounding slopes were once bare, as old postcards show, with only a few centuries-old beeches standing. Most of those beeches were cut by German troops during the Second World War, who needed firewood while occupying Sestola. One surviving beech still stands beside a nearby mountain hut.

The lake sits at 1,500 m on the slopes of Monte Cimone in the comune of Sestola. A ski area of the Monte Cimone ski district operates beside it, with a roughly 900 m alpine run served by a chairlift, a cross-country trail, a children's slope with a travelator, a snow park and a paid baby park with inflatables.

The lake bed was sealed with asphalt after natural vegetation was removed – an unusual engineering choice for an alpine lake. This modification allowed the water level to be controlled artificially and made the site usable for winter tourism.