La Brea Pitch Lake is a natural asphalt lake located in La Brea, southwest of Trinidad (Trinidad and Tobago). It covers approximately 41 hectares and is reported to reach a depth of 76 meters at its center, according to the country’s submission to UNESCO. Walter Raleigh visited it in 1595, and the site has been on the World Heritage Tentative List since 2011, though it has not yet been inscribed.
In January 2020, certified guide Garvin Charles, who was born and raised in La Brea, described his visit to La Brea’s Pitch Lake to the daily newspaper Newsday. At the time, he had eighteen years of experience leading tours of the approximately forty-five-minute hike. In this account, the surface is described using two guide terms. “Elephant skin” refers to the solid, wrinkled crust. “Mother of the Lake” refers to the spot where molten asphalt still oozes. In some places, the asphalt is soft enough for visitors to walk on it barefoot.
The key facts about this site can be summed up in a few figures. According to the dossier submitted by Trinidad and Tobago to UNESCO, La Brea Pitch Lake covers approximately 41 hectares. Its depth is estimated at 76 meters (250 feet) at the center, and it is believed to contain approximately 10 million metric tons of bitumen. Measurements vary by source, ranging from 40 to 47 hectares in area.
La Brea Pitch Lake, an asphalt lake formed by intersecting faults
La Brea Pitch Lake is located in La Brea, in southwestern Trinidad. The name is Spanish and means “pitch.” According to the UNESCO dossier, the asphalt rose up along major intersecting faults during geological movements in the Pliocene epoch. The dossier describes the lake as an emulsion of water, gas, bitumen, and mineral matter, containing a mixture of methane, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen sulfide.
The lake moves slowly, with visible flow lines. The report notes that prehistoric trees and other objects have already appeared, disappeared, and then reappeared there. Trinidad and Tobago presents La Brea Pitch Lake as the world’s largest and most significant asphalt lake, a claim made by the government.
From Raleigh Pitch to a State-Owned Enterprise
Native Americans were the first to use this asphalt, according to the official history of the company that operates the site today. In 1595, Walter Raleigh visited La Brea Pitch Lake. In his account published in 1596, he wrote that he had tried this pitch to maintain his ships. He described it as “most excellent good” and stated that it “melteth not with the sun as the pitch of Norway,” meaning that it does not melt in the sun like Norwegian pitch.
Commercial operations began in 1888, with a concession granted to A.L. Barber. Lake Asphalt of Trinidad and Tobago (1978) Limited, a state-owned company based in Brighton, La Brea, was established in 1978. It has just over 200 employees, 90% of whom live nearby. According to its own figures, approximately 90% of its lake asphalt sales are for export.
Wood carvings and sacred hummingbirds: what La Brea's Pitch Lake holds
In 2017, researchers including Ostapkowicz, Brock, and Wiedenhoeft published a study of ten wood carvings and a skull found in the asphalt of La Brea’s Pitch Lake. Radiocarbon dates range from approximately 3200 BCE to approximately 700 CE. The authors describe them as the oldest known wood carvings from the Caribbean.
These objects were recovered during commercial mining operations, without any archaeological context, which limits the conclusions that can be drawn from them. However, one weaving tool bears a strontium signature that is unlikely to have originated in Trinidad, suggesting connections to the South American continent. The artifacts are housed primarily at the National Museum and Art Gallery of Trinidad and Tobago. The UNESCO dossier also recounts a Native American legend. A village is said to have cooked sacred hummingbirds, which were believed to carry the souls of ancestors. The earth opened up, and a lake of pitch engulfed the village.
La Brea Tar Pits and the Wait for UNESCO Since 2011
On August 17, 2011, Trinidad and Tobago submitted La Brea’s Pitch Lake to the indicative list World Heritage sites, including Banwari Trace and the Tobago Main Ridge Forest Reserve. This list is a preliminary step, not an inscription. As of October 2, 2026, the country has no inscribed properties. The nomination cites two natural criteria, (vii) and (viii). On the ground, Newsday reported in 2020 that there were seven certified guides and five tours per day during peak season, compared to twenty when Garvin Charles first started. If inscription ever happens, what will we want to protect about a lake that spits out what it swallows?
On the ground, Newsday reported in 2020 that there were seven certified guides and five tours per day during peak season, compared to twenty when Garvin Charles first started. If the site is ever listed, what exactly will we want to protect about a lake that spits out what it swallows?
Frequently Asked Questions
La Brea Pitch Lake is located in La Brea, in the southwestern part of the island of Trinidad, in Trinidad and Tobago. According to the dossier submitted to UNESCO, it is located about 1.1 kilometers from the sea.
According to Trinidad and Tobago’s submission to UNESCO, La Brea’s Pitch Lake covers approximately 41 hectares, with an estimated depth of 76 meters at its center and approximately 10 million metric tons of bitumen. Other sources estimate its surface area to be between 40 and 47 hectares.
No. La Brea Pitch Lake has been on Trinidad and Tobago’s Tentative List since August 17, 2011, which is a preliminary step. As of October 2, 2026, the country has no properties inscribed on the World Heritage List.
