Best Salt Lake
The Dead Sea is a hypersaline terminal lake in the Jordan Rift Valley, bordered by Israel, Jordan, and the West Bank. Its surface and shoreline lie about 430 m below sea level, making them the lowest land surface on Earth, and its salinity is nearly ten times that of ocean water. The lake supports f...
Why this score?
Iconic hypersaline low point with global fame, health tourism and biblical geography; shrinkage and degradation lower consensus.
Scoring methodology
Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre is a vast endorheic salt lake located in the deserts of northern South Australia. Its basin represents the lowest natural point in Australia, sitting approximately 15 meters below sea level. Normally a dry saltpan, the lake only fills completely during rare, massive flood event...
Why this score?
Australia's largest lake when full, iconic salt-pan landscape and rare flooding spectacle; often dry, limiting general appeal.
Scoring methodology
Lake Gairdner is a large endorheic salt lake in the Eyre Peninsula region of South Australia, covering approximately 4,349 sq km when dry and ranking among the largest salt lakes in Australia. The lakebed consists of a vast, flat salt crust that hardens during dry periods, creating one of the most e...
Why this score?
Striking white salt lake and land-speed venue; strong visual uniqueness, limited ecological and visitor appeal.
Scoring methodology
Lake Mackay is one of Australia's largest salt lakes, straddling the border between Western Australia and the Northern Territory in the remote Tanami Desert region. It is an ephemeral, normally dry lakebed that only fills with shallow water during periods of significant rainfall, after which it may...
Why this score?
One of Australia's largest salt lakes with striking satellite patterns; remote and little visited, but visually distinctive.
Scoring methodology
Lake Torrens is a large endorheic salt lake in South Australia, forming a near-crescent arc covering approximately 5,745 km² (2,218 sq mi). The lake is almost permanently dry, with a salt crust surface, and sits near some of the lowest elevations on the Australian continent. Located approximately 34...
Why this score?
Large remote salt lake with geographic interest; mostly dry and less famous than Eyre or Gairdner.
Scoring methodology
Touggourt Oasis is an Algerian oasis city and capital of Touggourt Province in the northeastern Sahara, historically a significant caravan crossroads and now an agricultural center producing substantial quantities of dates.
Why this score?
Caravan and date-oasis history are meaningful, but destination reputation is moderate.
Scoring methodology
Kuialnytskyi Liman is a hypersaline coastal estuary near Odesa in southern Ukraine. A narrow sand barrier separates the liman from the Black Sea, and its concentrated brine and mineral-rich mud have long been associated with therapeutic treatments and spa facilities. The water body is also a protect...
Lake Frome is a large ephemeral salt lake in northeastern South Australia, east of the northern Flinders Ranges. It is an endorheic basin, meaning that water entering the lake has no permanent outlet to the sea, and its surface is commonly dry or covered by salt deposits. The lake covers roughly 2,4...
Why this score?
Remote ephemeral salt lake with arid-land interest; low public profile and limited scenic variety.
Scoring methodology
Zuni Salt Lake maar is a saline lake occupying a volcanic maar in west-central New Mexico. A maar is a broad, low volcanic crater formed by an explosive interaction between rising magma and groundwater, and the lake lies below the surrounding terrain within that depression. Zuni Salt Lake is also a...
Lake Disappointment is a large salt lake in Western Australia's Gibson Desert. It is an endorheic basin, meaning that water does not flow from it to the sea, and it lies in a remote arid region of the Australian interior. Explorer Frank Hann gave the lake its English name in 1897 after an expedition...
Why this score?
Memorable name and desert salt-lake character; remote, usually dry and not highly acclaimed.
Scoring methodology
Lake Carnegie is a large, shallow, saline, internally drained lake in the Gibson Desert of Western Australia. It is an ephemeral waterbody whose wet area changes substantially over time, depending on rainfall and inflow in one of the most remote regions of the continent. The lake was named for Scott...
Why this score?
Remote ephemeral salt lake with exploration history; limited distinctiveness and low public recognition.
Scoring methodology
Tuzla Lake is a saline coastal lagoon in Turkey's İzmir Province. Its shallow water, salt-rich environment, and coastal position provide habitat for waterbirds, including migratory species and flamingos. The lake is part of the network of wetlands used by birds along the Aegean coast and is importan...
