Lake Parón, Glacial lake in Cordillera Blanca, Peru.

Lake Parón is a glacial lake in the Cordillera Blanca range, situated around 4,200 meters above sea level within Huascarán National Park. Its waters spread across a large basin surrounded by snow-capped peaks and mountain ridges.

Lake Parón is a natural moraine-dammed lake in the Cordillera Blanca, formed behind debris left by retreating glaciers. In the 1960s and 1970s a water-regulation system was built to prevent a breach of the moraine and to manage the flow of the Santa River for the Cañón del Pato hydroelectric plant. The water level was lowered about 15 m to 4,155 m, and since 29 July 2008 the lake's water has no longer been used for the plant.

The Cruz de Mayo farming community holds the lake's water rights and irrigates the Llullán-Parón sub-basin below it. On 29 July 2008 residents occupied the lake and the Duke Energy facilities, demanding compensation for eroded irrigation canals and reduced potable water for Caraz. A dialogue roundtable with the National Water Authority ended in February 2014 with an agreement allowing hydroelectric use under independent supervision.

Access is by a dirt road from Caraz, 32 km away, about 1.5 hours by car or minibus. The water level is held at 4,155 m by a tunnel and underwater gate, roughly 15 m below the original level. Camping is possible on the west and east shores; from the east end an easy walk leads toward Artesonraju. Allow time to acclimatize before exertion at this altitude.

The granite monolith The Sphinx, 5,325 m high, stands above the lake and offers at least 13 big wall climbing routes. The lake's water level is held at 4,155 m by a tunnel and an underwater gate, lowered about 15 m from its original depth to keep the moraine from collapsing.