Records & People

Is Tilicho Really the World's Highest Lake? The Honest Answer

Nepal's trekking brochures have repeated the same superlative for decades. A local newspaper finally measured it — and found five lakes sitting…

By Laxman Rawal · Aug 3, 2026

Read the full story

Ask a search engine which lake sits highest on Earth and it will likely tell you: Tilicho Lake , a wind-scoured turquoise bowl above Nepal's Annapurna range at 4,919 metres. Trekking blogs repeat it, brochures print it, and generations of trekkers have shaken…

Travel Himalaya Nepal · News

What this means for trekkers

What this means for you None of the lakes ranked above Tilicho are ones you can actually trek to. Ojos del Salado's crater pool sits inside an active volcano's summit, reached only by technical mountaineers carrying oxygen and permits. The three Tibetan pools…

Travel Himalaya Nepal · News

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