Lake Tyrrell

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Lake in Victoria, Australia

title: "Lake Tyrrell" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["lakes-of-victoria-(state)", "mallee-catchment", "rivers-of-loddon-mallee-(region)"] description: "Lake in Victoria, Australia" topic_path: "general/lakes-of-victoria-state" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Tyrrell" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Lake in Victoria, Australia ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox body of water"]

FieldValue
nameLake Tyrrell
locationMallee district, Victoria
pushpin_mapAustralia Victoria
pushpin_relief1
pushpin_map_captionLocation in Victoria
coordinates_footnotes
coords
typeIntermittent
inflowTyrrell Creek
basin_countriesAustralia
area20860 ha
::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/Lake_Tyrrell.jpg" caption="Lake Tyrrell is popular with photographers because of its mirror-like surface" alt=""] ::

| name = Lake Tyrrell | image = | caption = | image_bathymetry = | caption_bathymetry = | location = Mallee district, Victoria | pushpin_map = Australia Victoria |pushpin_relief = 1 | pushpin_label_position = | pushpin_map_alt = | pushpin_map_caption = Location in Victoria | coor_pinpoint = | coordinates_footnotes = | coords = | type = Intermittent | inflow = Tyrrell Creek | outflow = | catchment = | basin_countries = Australia | length = | width = | area = 20860 ha | depth = | max-depth = | volume = | residence_time = | shore = | elevation = | islands = | cities = Lake Tyrrell (also known as Lake Tyrrell Wildlife Reserve) is a shallow, salt-crusted depression in the Mallee district of north-west Victoria, in Australia. The name 'Tyrrell' is derived from the local Wergaia word for 'sky', the Boorong Aboriginal people of the area being distinguished for their interest in star-lore. The Boorong, with their astronomical traditions, told stories connected with constellations in the night sky.

In the mid-2010s, the lake became a tourist mecca, particularly for Chinese. It is a popular location for photographers and social media users, who take photographs of the lake's mirror-like surface during winter, when ground water percolates to the surface and inflows arrive from the Avoca River/Tyrrell Creek system.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/Lake_Tyrrell_1.jpg" caption="Lake Tyrrell's mirror-like surface"] ::

During dry periods, people can walk on to the lake area by using places where salt has formed a solid surface.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/Lake_Tyrrell_salt.jpg" caption="Lake Tyrrell's solid salt floor"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/Lake_Tyrrell_salt_2.jpg" caption="Salt crust"] ::

Location and features

The lake covers approximately 20860 ha, making it Victoria's largest salt lake. It is located 6 km north of the town of Sea Lake and 314 km northwest of Melbourne.

While much of the time the lake is dry, it is usually covered in about 5 cm of water in winter. It is ancient, and probably formed by sand blocking the passage of Tyrrell Creek, a distributary of the Avoca River, which feeds the lake. Evaporation results in a layer of salt crusting on the lake bed, which is harvested by Cheetham Salt in Sea Lake.

The lake environment is host to Mallee reptiles, kangaroos, emus, and the white-fronted chat, an insectivorous bird. Thousands of seagulls breed on small islands on the lake. Surrounding vegetation is made up of saltbush and samphire, which supports a range of wildlife. To the east, the lunette contains significant Aboriginal relics.

History

Around 120,000 years ago, Tyrrell was approximately 13 m deep with low salinity. Water levels subsequently dropped due to climatic changes, resulting in cycles of drying and partial refilling.

In 1838, the explorer Edward Eyre was the first European to document Lake Tyrrell, while searching for new grazing land.

Recreation activities

Each year, on the King's Birthday long weekend, the lake hosts the Mallee Rally, once part of the Australian Off Road Championship and, more recently, Australian Off Road Racing Series.

On the Sea Lake side of the lake, 7 – from the township, is a lookout and astronomy deck, built in the late 1990s.

References

  • {{Cite journal|title=An Aboriginal Australian Record of the Great Eruption of Eta Carinae |last1=Hamacher |first1= Duane Willis |last2= Frew|first2=David J. |year=2010 |volume =13 |issue =3 |pages = 1–23 |journal=Journal of Astronomical History & Heritage |arxiv=1010.4610 |bibcode=2010JAHH...13..220H }}
  • Encyclopædia Britannica entry about Lake Tyrrell.

References

  1. (2 May 1966). "Lake Tyrrell (lake)". [[Government of Victoria (Australia).
  2. "Stories in the Stars – the night sky of the Boorong people".
  3. Grindlay, Danielle. (15 December 2016). "Chinese tourists flood isolated grain town, throwing drought-stricken community an unexpected lifeline". ABC.
  4. [http://sealake.vic.au/about/tyrrell Advance Sea Lake Inc.] {{webarchive. link. (2013-08-01 , 2013)
  5. [http://www.theage.com.au/travel/travel-factsheet/sea-lake-20081113-5ztf.html The Age Traveller - Sea Lake]
  6. [http://shrimp.anu.edu.au/people/jjb/Res%20Lake%20Tyrrell_frame.html Jochen Brocks' Biogeochemistry Group ANU] {{webarchive. link. (2013-05-16)

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

lakes-of-victoria-(state)mallee-catchmentrivers-of-loddon-mallee-(region)