Salton Sea Recreation Area

An ancient dried-up bed of a lake became an actual "sea" again in 1905. Having broken through an irrigation canal in Imperial Valley, the Colorado River flooded over into the old bed and filled it to a depth of 82ft/25m and a diameter of almost 250ft/75m. The river continued to flood until 1907; the resultant lake (now 30mi/48km long and 8-14mi/13-23km wide, with a surface of 235ft/74m and lying below sea-level) has no outlets, apart from some ditches dug to lead water away.

Recreation Area

The Salton Sea State Recreation Area has been created on the northern bank. This area, covering 16,680 acres/6,672 hectares, provides 175 well-equipped camping sites, which are especially popular with fishermen and water-sport enthusiasts (water-skiing, boats) and naturalists (walks, bird-watching).