Pitch Lake
Trinidad and Tobago · Trinidad · 30 m
Description
The Pitch Lake at La Brea is the largest natural deposit of asphalt in the world, a forty hectare surface of grey bitumen that looks like a car park and behaves like extremely slow liquid. It refills itself from below as it is dug, and it has been mined for more than a century for road surfacing exported worldwide. Walter Raleigh caulked his ships here in 1595. Visitors walk on the crust with a guide, past sulphur pools warm enough to bathe in and pockets where prehistoric bones and trees have surfaced. The visit takes about an hour and needs closed shoes.
Length of stay
Recommended length of stay: 1 day
Travel season
Best time to visit: December – May
- Jan
- Feb
- Mar
- Apr
- May
- Jun
- Jul
- Aug
- Sep
- Oct
- Nov
- Dec
Highlights
- Walking on the asphalt crust with a guide
- Sulphur pools warm enough to bathe in
- Prehistoric trees and bones surfacing in the pitch
- Working asphalt extraction
- Visitor centre and the Raleigh story
- Water lilies in the rain-filled hollows
- San Fernando hill on the way back(Day trip)