Why Does the 'Dirty Dancing' Lake Keep Draining? - FactzPedia

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Why Does the 'Dirty Dancing' Lake Keep Draining?

Why Does the 'Dirty Dancing' Lake Keep Draining?

If you have heard of Mountain Lake, then you probably already knew that. And you probably already know that the big lake from the film is now less than half full — and is more like a dried-up pond than a lake.

Walking its perimeter, you can still see the original basin and how high the water would be if it was at full pool. Now instead, a long white dock juts out from the lodge's famous gazebo, never reaching the water, while old boats sit up on dry land where the water should be.

While Watts and I are sitting in the lodge, he tells me a legend about when the water level got so low during the first half of the 1900s, hotel workers put mattresses over the holes at the bottom to stop the water from draining.

"Water levels always go up and down," says Watts. "But the lows were getting lower and lower for several years." In 2005, the numbers jumped back up thanks to a wet year but by 2008, the lake was nearly completely empty. It remained mostly empty from 2008 to 2012.

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