Tilicho Lake Is Called 'The World's Highest Lake.' It Isn't Even Nepal's Highest Anymore
Every trekking brochure calls Tilicho the world's highest lake. At 4,919m it's spectacular — but a Nepali lake discovered in 2019 already beats it, and the real global record sits over 1,400m higher, inside a volcano.
At a glance
- Published
- TopicRecords & People
- Verified againstWikipedia (Lhagba Pool)
- Treks coveredAnnapurna Circuit Trek — 10 Days, Tilicho Lake Trek
Trek the Annapurna Circuit and you'll hear it from every guide, teahouse sign and blog post: Tilicho Lake, the world's highest lake. It's one of the most repeated facts in Himalayan trekking — and it's not true. It isn't even Nepal's highest lake anymore.
Key facts
- Tilicho Lake sits at 4,919m (16,138ft) in Manang district, roughly 4km long and 1.2km wide
- In 2019, mountaineers found Kajin Sara Lake nearby at 5,020m — over 100m higher, and still in Nepal
- The true world record: a crater lake atop the volcano Ojos del Salado (Chile/Argentina), at 6,390m
- Tibet's Lhagba Pool, at 6,368m, is the official second-highest — also far above Tilicho
Tilicho is real, and it is genuinely extraordinary: a glacial lake nearly 5,000m up, ringed by ice walls, with an average depth of 85m and a surface so still it mirrors the peaks around it. It even holds a real record — the site of the highest-altitude scuba dives ever attempted. What it does not hold is the title trekking marketing gives it every single day.
The gap matters. Ojos del Salado's summit lake sits 1,471m above Tilicho — more than the entire height of Ben Nevis stacked on top of the difference. Reaching it means climbing the world's highest active volcano, a serious high-altitude mountaineering objective on the Chile-Argentina border, not a trek. Even Lhagba Pool in Tibet, rarely visited and little photographed, sits nearly a kilometre and a half above Tilicho. And within Nepal itself, Kajin Sara — discovered by a group of mountaineers in Chame rural municipality, in the same Manang district as Tilicho — was measured at 5,020m and locally recorded as the country's new highest lake, more than 100m above its famous neighbour.
Maurice Herzog's French expedition maps the lake during Nepal's earliest era of foreign exploration.
Tilicho becomes the signature side trip off the Annapurna Circuit, marketed worldwide as the world's highest lake.
Mountaineers locate a previously unmapped lake at 5,020m in Chame, Manang — higher than Tilicho, and still in Nepal.
Ojos del Salado's 6,390m crater lake and Tibet's 6,368m Lhagba Pool both sit far above any lake in Nepal.
What this means for trekkers
What this means for you
None of this makes Tilicho less worth the walk — if anything, it's the honest version that sells it better. Ojos del Salado's lake needs technical volcano mountaineering to reach; Lhagba Pool sees almost no visitors at all. Tilicho is the rare high-altitude lake you can actually stand beside after a well-supported trek, on marked trails, without ropes or a mountaineering permit. That's the real headline: not the tallest lake on Earth, but one of the very few genuinely spectacular ones you can reach on foot. Our Tilicho Lake Trek takes you there directly over 11 days from Kathmandu; if you'd rather see it as a side trip on the full loop, the Annapurna Circuit passes within reach of it before crossing Thorong La.
Source: Wikipedia, Lhagba Pool (elevation and world-ranking data cross-checked against the Tilicho Lake and Kajin Sara Lake entries).
Cover photo: Prabeshsdev via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Planning a trek?
Trek this route with us — Annapurna Circuit Trek — 10 Days
NMA-certified local guides, transparent pricing, 5,000+ treks since 1998. Message us your dates and we'll sort the permits, lodges and logistics — reply within 24 hours, no obligation.
Popular Nepal treks
All treks →
Related coverage
Records & People
The World's Highest Marathon Starts at Everest Base Camp — and Nobody Has Beaten a 2006 Record Since
The Tenzing-Hillary Everest Marathon drops 1,920 vertical metres over 26.2 miles from the base of the world's tallest mountain — and a Nepali runner's course record has now survived twenty straight years of attempts.
Records & People
Everest Isn't the Deadliest 8,000m Mountain. Annapurna Is — and It's Not Close
Guinness World Records has certified Annapurna I as the deadliest Himalayan giant, with a death-to-summit ratio over five times Everest's. Here's the real math behind the title, and why the trek to its base camp is nothing like the climb.
Safety & Advisories
Is Trekking in Nepal Dangerous? What the Real 2025/26 Death Data From Annapurna Shows
Twenty-five tourists died of altitude sickness in the Annapurna region this fiscal year, the highest total on record. Here's what Nepal's own numbers actually say about the risk, and how almost all of it is preventable.
Records & People
Everest Is Only Part of the Story: Inside the World's Highest National Park
Sagarmatha National Park stretches from 2,845 metres to Everest's 8,848-metre summit — and after a roughly 40-year absence, snow leopards are being seen inside it again.
Latest from the desk
Safety & Advisories
India Sends Around 50 Tonnes of Aid to Nepal as Modi Offers Condolences After the 2026 Floods
India is rushing tonnes of relief and rescue support to flood-hit Nepal, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi conveyed condolences to his Nepali counterpart and pledged India's full solidarity.
Money & Insurance
Does Your Credit Card Include Travel Insurance in 2026? What It Covers — and the Costly Gap
Many premium and travel cards bundle some cover — but it's usually secondary, conditional and capped, and it almost never pays for the emergency medical bill or evacuation that actually bankrupts travellers.
Safety & Advisories
Everyone Is Pledging Millions to Nepal. Here Is Where You Can Actually Send Money
The UN released $2m, the US pledged $500,000, India sent 50 tonnes. None of that helps if you are one person with a card. The official fund, the two alternatives worth trusting, and the scam window that is open right now.