White trees
Bleached by salt.
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Villa Epecuén is a resort town turned to ruins, on the shore of Lake Epecuén near Carhué in western Buenos Aires province. It was founded on 23 January 1921 around the lake's baths, whose water is nearly as salty as the Dead Sea, and grew into a famous spa with about fifteen hundred residents and some twenty-five thousand visitors each summer. The lake rose year after year, and on 10 November 1985 the earth embankment protecting the town gave way; water flooded it and everyone was evacuated. Decades later the water withdrew and the ruins appeared: streets and kerbs, the foundations of hotels and homes, and dead trees bleached white by salt, a strange scene that draws photographers and visitors. Its last resident lived among the ruins until 2024. The ticket includes the interpretation centre, where a short film is shown before the walk through the ruins. Early morning or late afternoon is best, and nearby Carhué has thermal baths with the same lake water.
Bleached by salt.
A whole town.
The flood's story.
About 7 km from Carhué, western Buenos Aires province
The embankment holding back the lake broke on 10 November 1985 and flooded it; decades later the water withdrew, exposing the ruins.