Lake Eyre is Australia’s largest lake.
It is 110 miles long and up to 40 miles wide, with a total area of about 3,700 square miles. But Lake Eyre is sometimes much smaller than that, and it sometimes isn’t a lake at all!
Lake Eyre is filled with water for part of the year, and may measure up to 12 feet in depth. But during dry seasons, the lake’s water evaporates, leaving a mud and salt-strewn basin 52 feet below sea level, the lowest point in Australia. Then it’s possible to drive a car across Australia’s biggest lake!
Its not uncommon in Australia for a large body of water to completely vanish. Lake George, near Canberra, is 18 miles long when it’s filled, but at other times it dries up, and its bed is used for sheep grazing.
Even the Darling River, Australia’s longest, has been known to dry up for as long as 18 months at a time!
