Everything you need to know about the mystery surrounding the lake in Dirty Dancing

Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Gray filmed the cult scene in Dirty Dancing there . However, 35 years later, we can see that Mountain Lake has strangely emptied of its water. DH went to Virginia to see what this mysterious lake hides.

For fans of Dirty Dancing , it is an essential place of pilgrimage. The Mountain Lake Lodge, near Pembroke, Virginia, is indeed known for having hosted, 35 years ago, the filming of the cult film with Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey. Since then, fans of Frances “Bébé” Houseman and Johnny Castle have flocked from all over the world to also live “the best of their lives” in this rural corner of the southeastern United States, where organized each year “Lascivious Dance Weekends”, which are often sold out.

A mythical scene

What is less known is that the place also attracts a crowd of geologists and scientists eager to look into a disturbing mystery. The lake that gave its name to Mountain Lake Lodge emptied of its water, following the filming of the legendary scene where Johnny lifts Baby at arm’s length, to practice for the famous lift number. During filming in the fall of 1986, the sequence was a real ordeal for Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, who came close to hypothermia in the frigid waters of Mountain Lake.

Today the place is covered with tall grass. All that remains is the two concrete blocks that had been placed by production at the bottom of the lake to allow the two stars to have part of their bodies out of the water. How did we get here? The lake saw its level drop for the first time in 1999, before rising again in 2003, then falling again in 2006, then it dried up almost completely in 2008. It was not until 2020, and a particularly rainy spring, that the water returns… before disappearing again.

Could Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Gray have had such a bond on the set of Dirty Dancing that they would have disrupted the Mountain Lake ecosystem? Not really! Already, it is common knowledge that the two stars did not really get along well on the set. Then, and above all, the lake did not wait for Johnny and Baby to pass by to see its water level fluctuate considerably. That’s what Jon Cawley, an associate professor of environmental studies at Roanoke College, Virginia, discovered, who has closely studied Mountain Lake by analyzing sediments, which can provide rich insights into evolution and functioning of a lake.

A phenomenon that is not new

“In the 1600s, the lake probably remained almost empty for 50 to 80 years, before filling up,” specifies the expert, in an interview with DH. According to his research, Mountain Lake also experienced a “low period” in the late 19th century. The water level then rose again at the beginning of the 20th century, before falling again in the 1950s. According to Jon Cawley, the lake obeys cycles which regularly lead it to dry up for several years, then to dry up again. re find a water level that could be described as normal.

These cycles work thanks to a complex irrigation network that allows Mountain Lake to clean itself. “The bottom of the lake is a bit like a sieve in a sink,” describes the expert. The water passes through multiple holes, which explains how the lake can empty or fill depending on the higher or lower pressure level of the groundwater. It is therefore not excluded that we will find, in the coming years, the Mountain Lake as we saw it in Dirty Dancing .

A unique lake However,

It is very difficult to predict exactly when the lake will regain its former splendor. In fact, Johnny and Baby’s lake has certainly not yet revealed all its secrets, particularly concerning the periodicity of its filling cycle. What is certain is that this is a fairly unique case in the world.

“To my knowledge, there is no other lake where such a phenomenon occurs,” tells us the professor, who is also a geologist. “Whether full or empty, Mountain Lake is one of a kind. It is an environmental treasure of the Southern Appalachian mountain range, and we must accept that it retains an element of mystery.

For their part, Dirty Dancing fans don’t seem overly perturbed to discover that the lake in the film currently looks more like a wild meadow than a vast expanse of water. It must be said that the fact that it is dried out has a certain advantage, since they can easily go to the place where Johnny had lifted Baby and replay the cult scene, while remaining very dry. Visitors can also take the opportunity to take the Indian Trail, which circles Mountain Lake over a distance of 2.4 km and which offers a splendid view, at the other end of the lake, over the basin at bottom of which there still remains a little water.