Lakes to Make You Double-Take

Lakes that disappear, lakes that aren’t blue, lakes that are rumored to be the home of demons or the Devil himself—these freshwater bodies aren’t your average swimming holes.

In France, the serene Lac Pavin hides the potential for explosive airborne toxic events, emitting dangerous gases from its lower levels during periods of seismic activity. The Badain Jaran Desert of China feature dozens of lakes,  not mirages but real water, emerging from a mysterious underground source to nestle amidst towering sand dunes. A lake high in the Andes, where life should not exist, is actually home to a flock of healthy flamingos. 

Beneath their waters or on their shores, these lakes harbor fossils, villages, lonely trees, floating islands, shipwrecks, abandoned mines, and even waterborne bathrooms. And some of them just happen to look peculiar. What will you find in the next lake you visit?