The beautiful springs of Badab-e Surt, also known as color springs, attracts a lot of tourists to this place every year. It is located 95 kilometers south of Sari city, Capital of Mazandaran province and 7 kilometers west of Orost village. It sits at 1,840 meters above sea level and is the culmination of thousands of years of limestone deposited by water flowing from two mineral hot springs during Pleistocene and Pliocene geological periods.
Badab-e Surt includes two springs with different natural characteristics in terms of color, smell, taste and volume of the water. The first spring has very salty water that gathers in a small natural pool; its water is useful for medicinal properties, especially as a cure for rheumatism and some types of skin diseases, migraine and foot pain. It is appropriate at summer and also, will not freeze in winter due to its salt.
The second spring located in the northwest of the first spring has a sour taste and is mostly orange and red mainly due to the large iron oxide sediments at its outlet. In one part of a floor of the pond, there is a deep hole is called the Bermuda Erost. The depth of this hole is estimated 98 meters.
Badab-e Surt was recorded as the second Iran's natural heritage list in 2008. It is the second largest salt spring of the world after Turkey’s Pamukkale. It is one of the most important programs of Iranian authorities to register it on UNESCO World Heritage List as a unique natural place.
There are only six somewhat similar spring like Badab-e Surt in the world; Pamukkale in Turkey, Bagni San Filippo in Italy, Agoura El Hierro in Mexico, White-Water Terraces (Baishuitai) in China, yellow stones in the US and The Pink Terraces(Otukapuarangi) in New Zealand.
The place gets its name from a combination of the Persian words for “gassed water” and the old name of the nearest village, which means “intensity.”
The best time to visit Badab-e-Surt is April and May, Although it is beautiful in all seasons. The most breathtaking scenes and wonderful view of light reflection on the ponds are during sunset or sunrise. When the lights shine the traces, it makes the ponds glow with red, orange, brown and yellow.
ZZ/