Canada’s Spotted Lake Is Seriously Out Of This World

Published July 7, 2015
Updated July 22, 2015

Imagine a lake that features what seems to be oversized confetti on its surface. Now imagine that the color of the confetti changes with lake conditions–and that the lake is found in a desert…in Canada. That’s Canada’s Spotted Lake in a nutshell, and it’s one of the most surreal things we’ve seen in a long time.

The odd collection of puddle-like bodies of water changes colors based on the presence and concentration of minerals in the water. Sometimes the large “puddles” are clear, and at other times they are yellow, green or blue–though rarely as blue as the Potash evaporation ponds.

Kliluk Lake

Source: Avax News

Spotted Lake

Source: Flickr

Spotted Lake is located in Canada’s only true desert near the city of Osoyoos, British Columbia. As temperatures rise each summer, the water begins to evaporate. Minerals crystallize into walkways and leave behind large puddles that dot the land. While Spotted Lake contains more than ten minerals, magnesium sulphate, sodium and calcium are most abundant (small doses of titanium and silver are not uncommon). In fact, the lake is one of the most mineral-rich bodies of water in the world.

author
Kiri Picone
author
Kiri Picone holds a B.A. in English and creative writing from Pepperdine University and has been writing for various digital publishers for more than 10 years.
editor
John Kuroski
editor
Based in Brooklyn, New York, John Kuroski is the editorial director of All That's Interesting. He graduated from New York University with a degree in history, earning a place in the Phi Alpha Theta honor society for history students. An editor at All That's Interesting since 2015, his areas of expertise include modern American history and the ancient Near East. In an editing career spanning 17 years, he previously served as managing editor of Elmore Magazine in New York City for seven years.
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Picone, Kiri. "Canada’s Spotted Lake Is Seriously Out Of This World." AllThatsInteresting.com, July 7, 2015, https://allthatsinteresting.com/spotted-lake. Accessed July 26, 2025.