10 Things to Know About Khiluk – The Spotted Lake of British Columbia

SpottedLake04Yes, this place actually exists and it’s just another example of how weird and wonderful nature can be – who can make this stuff up? Let’s look at some facts you need to know about this magical place!

  1. Lake Khiluk is the most mineralized lake in the world. Each spot holds a different cure due to the unique chemical content found within each puddle.
  2. SpottedLake05It’s located in British Columbia, Canada, northwest of the town of Osoyoos.
  3. The lake measures 0.16 miles (.25 km) wide by 0.43 miles (.7 km) long with a combined shore length of just over one mile (1.7 km).
  4. According to the First Nations Okanagan (Sylix) tribe, Lake Khiluk  is a sacred place of healing.
  5. The Okanagan tribe used the water in the spots to treat conditions such as warts, skin disease, body aches, and battle wounds.
  6. Lake Khiluk is considered a saline endorheic alkali lake. According to Wiki, “An endorheic basin is a closed drainage basin that retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water, such as rivers or oceans, but converges instead into lakes or swamps, permanent or seasonal, that equilibrate through evaporation.” So what’s left at the end of the evaporation are spots or puddles of highly concentrated minerals.
  7. SpottedLake02During the summer, most of the water evaporates from the lake, leaving the colorful spots of minerals. The lake bottom around the spots dries and hardens forming natural paths throughout the lake.  The colors of the spots change with the time of day and seasons.
  8. The most predominate mineral found in the spots is magnesium sulfate. There are plenty of calcium and sodium sulphates too. Scientists have identified eight other minerals present in some of the spots. Four more minerals were found in lesser quantities, among these four are silver and titanium.
  9. During World War I ammunition was made using minerals from Lake Khiluk.
  10. The land used to belong to the family of Ernest Smith but after many years of haggling, the First Nations tribe was able to purchase the land. Their goal is to preserve it as a sacred healing site.

SpottedLake03Now what I want to know is, has Bigfoot ever been sighted around the lake area? British Columbia is a hotbed of Bigfoot sightings, so I was thinking it would be so cool for someone to find his or her tracks in the areas around the healing spots! Maybe one day.  

Til the next time!

Please be sure to come back and visit CryptoVille any time. We’ve got lots of articles about all sorts of things that should interest lovers of strange and mysterious creatures, as well as strange phenomena. The Search bar (near the top right corner of the home page) works very well.  There is also a list of categories further below that, which you can browse.

Please also stop by our Facebook page, CryptoVille, where we share all manner of strange, beautiful, and sometimes silly things related to all things cryptid! Please Like our page while you’re there.

6 comments

  1. Whatever became of this property ? Who are the current owners ? Who is the First Nation Tribe ?

    • Hi Karen! The info you are looking for is in the article. The lake & surrounding land is owned by the First Nations tribe Okanagan (Sylix) and it’s in British Colombia, northwest of the town called Osoyoos. Nothing has happened to it; it’s still there.

      Thank you for visiting CryptoVille! … Susan (CryptoVille)

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.