As we have learned from school, a lake is a considerable inland body of water or natural enclosed basin serving to drain the surrounding country.

Getting bored of the ordinary? Well, here’s a list of extraordinary lakes and unique lakes that will surely amaze you. Come on, join me and have some fun in discovering these unusual creations of nature. Let’s find out why these lakes are considered unique and/or bizarre.

La Brea Pitch Lake: Trinidad & Tobago

The first on our list is truly a bizarre lake. Based on the meaning of lake, it implies that a lake is a – body of water but the La Brea Pitch Lake is a lake of natural asphalt. It is in southwest Trinidad. It has fascinated explorers, scientists and the common folk since its discovery by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1595. The lake covers about 500 sq. m and is reported to be 75 m deep. The Pitch Lake attracts about 20,000 visitors annually. It is also mined for asphalt which is exported for high-quality road construction. Pitch is an old fashioned name for tar.

Boiling Lake: Dominica

As the name of this lake suggests, it is surely quite a bizarre lake. The Boiling Lake is situated in the Morne Trois Pitons National Park, Dominica. It’s the country’s World Heritage site. It is a flooded fumarole, or hole in the earth’s surface, 10.5 km east of Roseau, Dominica. It is filled with bubbling grayish-blue water that is usually enveloped in a cloud of vapor. The lake is approximately 60 m or 200 ft across. So it contains water but the only difference is – they’re boiling. That’s kind of weird.

They measured the water temperature and found it to range from 180 to 197 degrees Fahrenheit (82 to 91.5 degrees Celsius) along the edges, but could not measure the temperature at the center where the lake is actively boiling. They recorded the depth to be greater than 195 ft (59 m).

Crater Lake: United States of America

One of the most interesting features of this lake that makes it unique among others is that- it has the clearest water than any lake in the world. It is in Oregon, USA. It is located in the caldera of Mount Mazama, hence the name “Crater Lake.” It is the deepest lake in the United States with a depth of 594 m (1,949 ft). Crater Lake is fed solely by falling rain and snow, with no inflow or outflow at the surface.

Dead Sea: Israel/Jordan

Another bizarre lake is the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is a salt lake situated between Israel and the West bank to the west, and Jordan to the east. It is 420 meters (1,378 ft) below sea level and its shores are the lowest point on the surface of the Earth on dry land. The Dead Sea is 330 m (1,083 ft) deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world. It is also the world’s second saltiest body of water, after Lake Assal in Djibouti, with 30 percent salinity. It is 8.6 times saltier than the ocean. This salinity makes for a harsh environment where animals cannot flourish and boats cannot sail. The Dead Sea is 67 kilometers (42 mi) long and 18 kilometers (11 mi) wide at its widest point. It lies in the Jordan Rift Valley, and its main tributary is the Jordan River.

The Dead Sea has attracted visitors from around the Mediterranean basin for thousands of years. Biblically, it was a place of refuge for King David. It was one of the world’s first health resorts (for Herod the Great), and it has been the supplier of a wide variety of products, from balms for Egyptian mummification to potash for fertilizers.

Chott el Djerid, Salt Lake: Tunisia

This unusual lake can be crossed by foot and even by car, though it is dangerous because the salt crust is not always too firm. Chott el Djerid is a large endorheic salt lake (one with an inflow but no outflow for the water) in southern Tunisia. It is the largest salt pan of the Sahara, with a surface area of over 5,000 sq km. Due to the extreme climate, with an annual rainfall of only 100 mm and temperatures reaching 50° C, water evaporates from the lake. In summer, Chott el Djerid is almost entirely dried up, and numerous fata morganas occur. Chott el Djerid was used as a filming location for the Star Wars series, among others.

Lake Assal: Djibouti

Another bizarre lake in the world is the Lake Assal. It is the most saline body of water in the world. It is a crater lake in central Djibouti. It lies 155 m (515 ft) below sea level in the Afar Depression and is the lowest point on land in Africa. It measures 19 by 7 km and has an area of 54 km2. The sources of the lake are hot springs whose salinity is close to sea water. The area is wild and desert-like, and no fauna or flora can be seen in the syrupy waters of the lake. The high temperature of the water (33-34 °C) favors evaporation, and it is surrounded by a salt pan (extending west and mainly northwest). The salt is mined and transported by caravan to Ethiopia.

Lake Titicaca: Bolivia/Peru

This amazing lake is the highest commercially navigable lake in the world and home to the Uru people who built houses and boats out of reeds. Lake Titicaca is a lake located on the border of Bolivia and Peru. It sits 3,812 m (12,507 ft) above sea level making it the highest commercially navigable lake in the world. By volume of water it is also the largest lake in South America. The lake also contains several islands.

Nahuel Huapi: Argentina

Nahuel Huapi Lake is a lake of the lake region of northern Patagonia between the provinces of Rio Negro and Neuquen, in Argentina. Nahuel Huapi Lake, located within the Nahuel Huapi National Park, is of glacial origin, and has a surface of 529 km². It rests 2,510 feet (765m) over the sea level, and has a maximum measured depth (as of 2007) of 1,437 feet or 438 m.

This breathtaking lake harbors several species of trout including rainbow trout, brown trout and brook trout which attract anglers from the world over. A curious fact about the lake is that, despite being nowhere near any ocean and being at high altitude, it is also home for Kelp Gull and the Blue Eyed Cormorant (Phalacrocorax atriceps), otherwise strictly marine birds. The lake is also ideal for kayaking which is a very popular sport on this and adjacent lakes.

Lake Saiful Maluk: Pakistan

Lake Saiful Muluk is at the northern end of the Kaghan Valley near Naran, Pakistan. At an altitude of 3,224 m above sea level, it is one of the highest lakes in Pakistan. The clarity of the water comes from the multiple glaciers around the high basin, which all feed the lake.

Rara Lake: Nepal

This grandiose beauty at a very high altitude is truly a wonderful gift of nature. Rara Lake, the largest lake in Nepal, is five kilometers long and two kilometers wide and its water reaches a depth of 170 meters. It is in Western Nepal, part of the Rara National Park. The lake lies at an altitude of 2,900 meters above sea level and spans an area of 10 square kilometers. The clear waters, which reflect the snow-capped Himalayas, is surrounded by blue pine, black juniper forest and Himalayan cypress.-23.

Uvs Nuur: Russia/ Mongolia

This unusual lake is a highly saline lake. Uvs Nuur is the largest lake in Mongolia, which, at 753 m above sea level, covers an area of 3,350 km². Its northeastern part is situated in the Tuva Republic of the Russian Federation. This shallow and very saline body of water is the only remainder of a huge saline sea which covered a much larger area several thousand years ago. This lake is shared by Russia and Mongolia.

Lake Atitlan: Guatemala

Do you want to seeone of the most beautiful lakes in the world? Lake Attila (Lago de Atitlan) is a large endorheic lake in the Guatemalan Highlands. While Atitlan is recognized to be the deepest lake in Centarl America, its bottom has not been completely sounded. The lake is shaped by deep escarpments which surround it and by three volcanoes on its southern flank. Lake Atitlan is further characterized by towns and villages of the Maya people. The lake is volcanic in origin, filling an enormous caldera formed in an eruption 84,000 years ago.

Coatepeque Lake, Crater Lake: El Salvador

Coatepeque Caldera is a volcanic caldera in El Salvador in Central America. The caldera was formed during a series of major rhyolitic explosive eruptions between about 72,000 and 57,000 years ago. Since then, basaltic cinder cones and lava flows formed near the west edge of the caldera, and six rhyodacitic lava domes have formed making it an unusual lake. The youngest dome, Cerro Pacho, formed after 8000 BC. There is also hot springs at Lago de Coatepeque (Lake Coatepeque). In the lake is the island of Teopan, which was a Mayan site of some importance.

Lake Toba: Indonesia

This unique lake is the largest volcanic lake in the world. Lake Toba formed after its eruption around 70,000 years ago and has an area of over 1,000 square kilometers. Caldera lakes are quite large and long-lasting; Lake Toba is a lake, 100 km long and 30 km wide, and 505 m. (1,666 ft.) at its deepest point, in the middle of the northern part of the Indonesian island of Sumatra with a surface elevation of about 900 m (3,000 feet).

Strbske Pieso: Slovakia

The view of the lake, with the Tatra Mountains as a back drop, is breathtaking, and so it is little wonder that Strbske Pleso has become a popular tourist destination. Strbske Pleso is a picturesque mountain lake of glacial origin in the High Tatras, in the settlement of Strbske Pleso in Slovakia. The lake is covered by ice about 155 days per year. This lake is located in Slovakia.

Srebarna Lake: Bulgaria

Srebarna Lake is located in northeastern Bulgaria, on the Via Pontica. It is a bird migration route between Europe and Africa. The lake’s depth varies from 1 to 3 m. The Srebarna Nature Reserve is a freshwater lake adjacent to the Danube and extending over 600 ha. What makes this lake unique is – it is the breeding ground of almost 100 species of birds, many of which are rare or endangered. Some 80 other bird species migrate and seek refuge there every winter. Among the most interesting bird species are the Dalmatian pelican, great egret, night heron, purple heron, glossy ibis and white spoonbill. This beautiful lake is another UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Plitvice Lake: Croatia

Plitvice Lake located in Croatia is another UNESCO World Heritage Site. The waters flowing over the limestone and chalk have, over thousands of years, deposited travertine barriers, creating natural dams which in turn have created a series of beautiful lakes, caves and waterfalls. It is comprise of 16 levels of lakes, quite unusual, isn’t it? These geological processes continue today. The forests in the park are home to bears, wolves and many rare bird species.

Loch Ness: Scotland, United Kingdom

Loch Ness is a large, deep, freshwater loch in the Scottish Highlands extending for approximately 37 km (23 miles) southwest of Inverness. Its surface is 15.8 meters (52 ft) above sea level. Loch Ness is best known for the alleged sightings of the legendary loch Ness Monster, also known as “Nessie,” making it a bizarre lake, I guess.

Loch Ness is the second largest Scottish loch by surface area at 56.4 km² (21.8 sq mi) after Loch Lomond, but due to its great depth is the largest by volume. Its deepest point is 230 m (754 ft). It contains more fresh water than all lakes in England and Wales combined.

Taal Lake: Philippines

Taal Lake is a freshwater lake. The lake is situated within a caldera formed by very large eruptions between 500,000 and 100,000 years ago. The active Taal Volcano, which is the one responsible for the lake’s sulfuric content, lies on an island in the center of the lake. Its most popular endemic species is the over-harvested tawilis, the world’s only freshwater sardine, making it a bizarre lake. Taal Lake is also home to one of the world’s rarest sea snakes, Hydrophis semperi. This particular species is only one of two “true” sea snake species that are known to live entirely in freshwater.

Heaven Lake: North Korea/China

Heaven Lake is truly unique because it is the world’s highest crater lake at an altitude of 2,189.1 m or 7,182 ft. according to the Guinness Book of World Records. This fascinating lake is a crater lake located on the border between China and North Korea. It lies within a caldera atop the volcanic Baekdu Mountain. It is located partly in North Korea and partly in northeastern China. The crater lake was created by a major eruption in 969 AD.

The lake covers an area of 9.82 km2 (3.79 sq mi) with a south-north length of 4.85 km (3.01 mi) and east-west length of 3.35 kilometers (2.08 mi). The average depth of the lake is 213 m (699 ft) and maximum depth of 384 m (1,260 ft). From mid-October to mid-June, Chonji is covered with ice.

The world is endowed with so many unique and unusual natural wonders. Let’s all enjoy these beautiful gifts of nature.

For related articles see

Five Bizarre Lakes in the World

The World’s Most captivating Lagoons and Blue Holes

The World’s Most Beautiful Bays

Interesting Information About the Earth