The 12 Creepiest Lakes in the World

Lakes are usually associated with recreation and relaxation and they’re defined as land-locked bodies of water. But some have creepy stories around them that may deter you from visiting. Whether a lake is purportedly haunted or it looks weird, we’ve compiled a list of the 12 creepiest lakes in the world.

Bodies of water exist all over the world and in every environment, so the lakes on our list have varying reasons why they’re the creepiest.

The 12 Creepiest Lakes in the World

We’re going to take a look at 12 of the creepiest lakes in the world and why exactly they’re so creepy.

1. Pitch Lake in Trinidad

This lake is creepy because it’s made of liquid asphalt and contains strange organisms that thrive in such a caustic environment. Not only that, ancient remains have been found within the lake.

It’s believed that the asphalt gets into the lake through a fault line that releases oil into the soil. When dredging began a little less than 200 years ago, human remains and ancient wood carvings were discovered. While it’s identified as prehistoric, the discovered items could not be carbon dated.

2. Lake Superior in the United States

In 1927, 22 people on board the Canadian SS Kamloops disappeared while en route on the lake. 50 years later, the ship was found by divers who claimed a corpse had followed them out of the engine room.

There are also stories of ghost ships on the lake as there have been a lot of shipwrecks and disappearances on its waters. One was in 2016 when photographers claim they saw a mysterious object on the horizon that they believe was a ghost ship.

The SS Edmund Fitzgerald sunk on the lake in 1975 and a commercial crew swears they saw the ship sailing on the lake. 29 people died on board when the ship sunk.

There are numerous other sightings on the lake with attached stories. There are too many similar stories to not get the creeps.

3. Lake Natron in Tanzania

Lake Natron is a salt lake with one of the highest salinities on the planet. Where it is located in Tanzania is extremely hot and the lake evaporates faster than water goes into it. The water is red because microorganisms that love salt do remarkably well in this inhospitable environment.

Because the lake is not only fed by a river but a hot spring, the water is exceptionally warm. Since the lake is so shallow, the barrage of heat from the environment also aids the lake in being abnormally hot.

Animals are mummified in the lake’s waters due to calcification. Living things are drawn to the lake because it looks safe from a distance but once they submerge themselves in the water, they quickly die. As a result, it’s termed the “lake of death.”

Despite the creepy composition of the water, lesser flamingoes use the lake as a breeding ground. While fish aren’t in the most dangerous parts of the lake, on the periphery in inlets there are endemic tilapia.

4. Lake Ronkonkoma in New York

A love story on the lake has left it cursed according to local lore. An indigenous American and her colonist lover floated love letters across the waters to each other because seeing each other was strictly forbidden.

The colonist was killed when a fight broke out. The two lovers were going to run away together, but it created conflict. The bereaved indigenous girl paddled out to the middle of the lake, cursed it, and drowned herself.

The curse dictates that one young man will die in the lake every year. According to residents, at least one person drowns in the lake every year and they are almost always young men. This trend has existed for 200 years.

5. Kaindy Lake in Kazakhstan

At the beginning of the last century, an earthquake created a dam. This dam shored up rainwater which created Kaindy Lake.

It’s crystal clear but filled with trees that protrude out of the water. When the water began gathering in the lake bed, it drowned a forest. Because the water is so cold, the needles of the tree are preserved under the water which is a freaky sight for divers.

6. Flathead Lake in Montana

The Kutenai that historically lived around this lake remember a legend of a monster with antlers coming through the ice in winter. European settlers that came to the area began reporting sightings of a similar monster and a correlation between the two was made.

The monster is described as a huge sturgeon, whale, or eel. One little boy, in particular, claimed the monster saved him from drowning.

7. Lake Labynkyr in Russia

There is a rumor from the 19^th century that a devil lives near the lake. In 2013, divers found a strange skeleton at the bottom of the lake that looked like an otherworldly creature.

The creature may be semiaquatic and it’s speculated that it’s some kind of amphibian or reptile. That’s because this creature is also capable of coming up on land. A fisherman in 2000 supposedly saw crushed seagulls on a shoreline.

Believers suggest this devil monster can survive year-round in the water and that it may be the reason that the lake doesn’t freeze despite temperatures dipping below -75 degrees Fahrenheit. There is probably an underground spring feeding the lake, but it does make one wonder.

8. Lake Michigan in the United States

There are organized ancient stones under the waters of Lake Michigan. Some say it’s reminiscent of Stonehenge although it’s not a monolith nor does it have a henge. Its exact location isn’t known except by a select few to avoid tourists affecting the site.

It may be over 10,000 years old and the stones are lined up for a mile. A mastodon carving possibly appears on one of the stones. Mastodons went extinct about 10,000 years ago which is how the stones were dated.

There’s a lot of controversy around the site but unknown ancient submerged stones? Sounds like a creepy lake.

9. Lake Roopkund in India

Lake Roopkund is over 3 miles above sea level. It’s nestled in the Himalayan Mountains.

There are human bones scattered around the shoreline that are from the 9^th century CE.  The locals call Lake Roopkund “Skeleton Lake” and for good reason. No one knows how the remains made it to the lake.

The bones weren’t found until the 1940s. There are remains from at least 300 corpses in the lake.

What makes this especially creepy is this is only one of two mass burial sites found in India so the occurrence is extremely rare.

Why were these people here? Why did they die? Why are there so many skeletons? These questions give anyone the creeps.

10. Loch Ness in Scotland

As a lake among the largest body of fresh water in the UK, stories of the Loch Ness monster have been circulating since 565 CE. Also called Nessie, stories of the lake’s monster were preserved in Scottish folklore.

There have been photographs and recordings of the Loch Ness monster but none of them can be substantiated. Still, the idea that something huge and unidentified lurks in the depths is enough to give anyone the creeps.

11. White Rock Lake in Texas

Since the 1960s, the story of a soaking wet girl in a white 1930s dress has been reported. Motorists that have stopped for her say she asks for a ride to a specific address but disappears once she’s in the back seat.

There are no reports of a girl drowning in a white evening dress on the lake. Dubbed the Lady of the Lake, this is a common story that circulates in Dallas.

12. Devil’s Pool in Australia

Devil’s Pool hosts another tragic love story that has supposedly left the waters cursed. When an aboriginal woman named Oolana was separated from the love of her life, she committed suicide by drowning herself.

The story goes that she still lurks in the water and lures men to their death. In the last 50 years, twenty people have died.

Summary of the 12 Creepiest Lakes in the World

The photo featured at the top of this post is © iStock.com/CircleEyes