Once every few years, Badwater Basin, the driest place in North America, gets filled with a rare, ephemeral lake known as Lake Manly.
Last updated: May 11, 2024
(Not) Looking Forward to Seeing a Rare Lake in Death Valley
Our latest 2-day trip to Death Valley National Park was about to be canceled. If minute issues and a few times simply not feeling like driving six hours one-way kept postponing the journey, a recent discovery almost canceled it altogether.
Roshan found out about a temporary lake that submerged Badwater Basin, the lowest and driest point in Death Valley National Park. Lake Manly reappeared in the Mojave Desert after recent rainstorms. Rare and ancient, it was quite a phenomenon, worth seeing before the blistering heat of Death Valley would dry it up again.
This might have been the only valid argument that convinced Roshan to proceed with planning the trip. This or maybe still a faint hope to find iconic polygons that adorn the dry ground of Badwater Basin before Lake Manly fills it up.
Lake Manly, a Rare Lake in Death Valley National Park
The famous cracks in the desert floor were nowhere to be found. Instead, a large water body stretched from Badwater Basin to Devil’s Golf Course and continued engulfing the desert valley for as far as the eye could see.
Many years ago, the lake was not a temporary, but a permanent site that covered much of the current Death Valley area. Lake Manly was named after William Lewis Manly who rescued a group of immigrants in Death Valley in 1849.
Studies of the desert that started at the end of the 19th century, however, showed that not one, but several immense lakes and formidable rivers had existed in the area. Some of them later merged and transformed into even greater natural reservoirs.
Lake Manly wasn’t even the biggest. But the name stuck and is used for the most recent lakes that reappear in Death Valley after heavy rainfalls.
The Latest Temporary Lake in Death Valley
The latest temporary lake in Death Valley satisfied all standards of a traditional lake. At the end of winter, it was still about six miles long, three miles wide, and nearly a foot deep. At this depth, it allowed kayaking and paddle-boarding.
By early spring, however, the evaporation of water increased significantly. With no precipitation bringing in new water, the temporary lake in Death Valley started drying rapidly. Any boating activities stopped to preserve Badwater’s photogenic polygons and avoid any social trails that could stay visible until the next time Lake Manly refills.
But the rare lake had a final say before drying out and reappearing who knows when. Dust storms and heavy winds that teared across Death Valley in early March aided to the migration of Lake Manly. The water spread out for additional two miles to the north.
The site eventually resumed its earlier size when the winds stopped. By summer Lake Manly might be just a memory once again. Until the next rainstorm hits Death Valley.
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