What Is The Deepest Lake in Baja California?

Reflections on Hanson Lagoon, Baja California
© Daniel Ramirez Rosillo/Shutterstock.com

Written by Justin Sexton

Published: October 4, 2023

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seal lions in the Bahía de Loreto National Park

Seal lions in the Bahía de Loreto National Park just outside the Baja California peninsula.

©josephwaynebarrett, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons – Original / License

The Baja California peninsula Baja California is a popular tourist spot due to its endless beaches. The peninsula has two sections: Baja California and Baja California Sur.

Baja California aka Estado Libre y Sobreano de Baja California, is a northwestern state in Mexico below the United States border. The state’s economy relies on agriculture, tourism, and the fishing industry. The Baja California peninsula is in between the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of California. Although Baja California is famous for its beaches, they have lakes that are extremely underrated sights to see.

The southern region is called Estado Libre y Sobreano de Baja California Sur. The only difference in the names is the inclusion of “sur” or “south” in the naming. The south side of the peninsula isn’t as populated as the north side. Baja California Sur has a hotter climate than the northern Baja California region and gains less than 200 mm of rain annually. Many of the lakes in Baja California are dry lakes, which are common in the desert geography.

What is the deepest lake in Baja California?

The deepest lake in Baja California is Laguna Salada.

Laguna Salada

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This dry lake is the deepest point in Mexico at thirty-three feet below sea level in the Sonoran Desert in Baja California. Laguna Salada translates to “salty lagoon”. It’s a popular area that people go to for recreational off-road driving. The rhombus-shaped lake can overflow when heavy rain is present. It can be difficult to travel through in that scenario to where only the unpaved road of the west bank is the single way to traverse the area. Laguna Salada is famous for its dust storms as a result of nearby thunderstorms.

Although the lake isn’t that deep, it is a large lake. Laguna Salada is one thousand nine hundred twenty-one feet wide and thirty-seven miles in length. The last time Laguna Salada was filled with water was during the seventies and eighties. However, the lake has gone through a drought since then. The area has received less and less rainfall throughout the last twenty years, which affects the depth of Laguna Salada.

How Deep Is Laguna Salada Compared To The Other Lakes?

Laguna Salada is known to be the deepest lake in the Baja California Peninsula. Most of the lakes’ depths are undocumented or very shallow as if they’re fifteen feet or less.

Laguna Juarez

Refletions on Hanson Lagoon, Baja California

Image: Daniel Ramirez Rosillo, Shutterstock

©Daniel Ramirez Rosillo/Shutterstock.com

This beautiful lake is five thousand feet above sea level. The environment has many trees and boulders in the background. Laguna Juarez is located in the northern Baja California peninsula. Another name for Laguna Juarez is Laguna Hanson. The lake is named after a local rancher in the 1800s. Laguna Juarez is a great camping and traveling site for natives and tourists.

Food and cabin rentals are available at the site. It’s a perfect place to go fishing in a forest-like environment that’s visually different from the desert geography of the Baja peninsula. It can be surprising for tourists to see snow around the lake, but it happens due to the lake’s high elevation.

Unfortunately, there isn’t a specific measurement of how deep is the lake. Yet, many different accounts and reports have said the lake is relatively shallow.

Laguna Juarez is one of the most snake-infested lakes in Baja California. Laguna Salada doesn’t have many snakes there but it has some great wildlife. Some of the different types of animals that Laguna Salada has are reptiles, lizards, snakes, desert foxes, and insects.

Summary

What is the deepest lake in Baja California? It’s the enormous Laguna Salada. Laguna Salada’s depth may be a mere thirty-three feet. It’s not a deep lake compared to other lakes in similar climates like Arizona, but it is a wide lake. The Laguna Salada is one thousand nine hundred twenty-one feet wide and thirty-seven miles in length. Most of the lakes’ depths in the Baja California Peninsula are undocumented or very shallow as if they’re fifteen feet or less.

It is a fantastic lake to rent cars or ATVs and explore the thirty-seven-mile-long lake. Plenty of people camp at the lake. Fishing is a good thing to do at the lake. Some of the fish types people can find at the lake are tilapia, squid, catfish, chiros, mullet, cattail, and tamarisk.

Many people also visit Laguna Juarez to stay in the mountains above the desert. It’s a couple thousand feet above sea level and becomes a perfect getaway spot with cabin rentals. There is also a rich fish population at the lake that people can go and fish at.


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About the Author

Justin is an A-Z Animals Writer that loves to cover places, unique natural disasters, and travel. He has eight years of experience as a writer in the medical and media fields. He wrote for the likes of VCU Health, theMSQshop, PayDay LA, and Comic Book Resources under the penname Jay Guevara. Although he's a full time writer, Justin graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2019 with a Bachelors in Health, Physical Education, and Exercise Science with a background in Community Engagement. After spending over two decades in Richmond, Virginia, Justin now resides in the suburbs of Rancho Cucamonga, California. He's a dedicated gymrat. He's also a two-time poetry author who's influenced by rappers Joe Budden and IDK along with Dante Alighieri.

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