Chungará Lake, High mountain lake in Arica y Parinacota Region, Chile.

Chungará Lake lies in Lauca National Park at 4,517 meters, close to the Bolivian border. It covers about 21.5 to 22.5 square kilometres, with two large embayments in the northeast and south, and its deepest point, between 26 and 40 meters, lies in the northwestern sector. Steep northern and western shores contrast with gentler southern and eastern ones.

The lake formed between 8,000 and 17,000 years ago when debris from the Parinacota volcano's collapse dammed the Lauca River. This geological event shaped the landscape that visitors see today in this mountain region.

The lake's name comes from the Aymara language, where Chunkha means bearded, reflecting indigenous roots in this high mountain region. Local communities have long recognized this water source as central to their way of life in the altiplano.

Fill your fuel tank in Arica before heading out, as no gas stations exist along the route to the lake. Take time to acclimatize to the high altitude and bring warm layers, as weather conditions change rapidly at this elevation.

The lake has no surface outlet: its water leaves mainly by evaporation and by underground seepage into the Cotacotani Lakes, which then feed the Lauca River. A 2023 reading of -19.1 °C at the lake is among the cold records of the Chilean Altiplano.