The Water Babies of Pyramid Lake
Nevada’s picturesque Pyramid Lake attracts anglers and photographers from around the world, but the lake also has a dark side. Legend has it malevolent “water babies” lurk in the depths, eager to drag visitors to a watery grave.
Stretching over 125,000 acres, Pyramid Lake is so scenic, Apple featured it on the home screen of the original iPad. Fisherman come for the rare cui-ui and Lahontan cutthroat trout, while other recreationists enjoy swimming, kayaking, and paddle boarding. Sadly, many of these visitors disappear without a trace.
“There is something bad about that lake,” one local said in a story about Pyramid Lake. “People die out there every year, and they never find the bodies.”
Some locals believe water babies are to blame. According to local legend, the Paiute Indians once drowned their critically ill or deformed infants in Pyramid Lake to conserve resources and purify the tribe’s bloodline. Now, these drowned infants terrify guests with their ghostly wails. Known as water babies, the young spirits are most active around sunrise or sunset and are fond of drowning swimmers, capsizing boats, and dragging fisherman deep into the lake.
“I’ve never seen an actual water baby,” a local guide told a writer from the Grandy Drummer. “But, I have seen a number of inexplicable things on the sonar. Images appear out of nowhere on the screen, then suddenly disappear.”
The water baby legend isn’t unique to Pyramid Lake. Similar tales appear in Idaho, California, and other parts of Nevada. The similar crybaby bridge legends are even more common.
Do the spirits of drowned infants really haunt Pyramid Lake? Or is the story nothing more than a troubling myth? If you’re ever in the area, why not pay a visit and discover the truth for yourself?