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Remember that lake in ‘Dirty Dancing’? It’s filling back up more than 10 years after it dried up

GILES COUNTY, Va. – Mountain Lake, made famous by the iconic 80s movie “Dirty Dancing,” dried up in 2008, but now -- more than 10 years later — the lake is starting to fill back up.

According to CNN, the area had a wet spring and recently, employees at Mountain Lake Lodge noticed the lake where Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey had starred is filling back up.

"It's about a third full right now and it seems to be holding," Mountain Lake Lodge's General Manager Heidi Stone told CNN. "It's very exciting. The guests get very excited because for so many years it's been dry and looked more like a meadow. It's the prettiest when it's filled with water."

Roanoke College professor Jon Cawley said in a video posted on the lodge’s website that the act of draining and refilling makes the lake completely unique.

“This lake basin is the only one on the entire planet that goes through this sort of cyclicity and has this sort of plumbing system,” Cawley said.

Cawley said that the lake hits a major low every 400 years, but it is functioning as it should.

“When the lake drains — when it actually empties out — it cleans itself by moving sediment that has accrued in the bottom of the lake down through that rather complex plumbing system to actually make the lake bigger, deeper and keeping it clean,” Cawley said.

For more information about visiting the lodge or the lake, go to MtnLakeLodge.com.


About the Author
Daniela Sternitzky-Di Napoli headshot

Daniela Sternitzky-Di Napoli has been a digital news editor at KPRC 2 since 2018. She is a published poet and has background in creative writing and journalism. Daniela has covered events like Hurricane Harvey and the Astros World Series win. In her spare time, Daniela is an avid reader and loves to spend time with her two miniature dachshunds.

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