Tso Kar

Tso Kar is a fluctuating saline lake on the Rupshu Plateau in Leh district, Ladakh, at about 4,530 metres elevation. Known as White Lake for salt deposits on its shores, it comprises a large northern freshwater lagoon (Startsapuk Tso) and a smaller southern saline basin. Located near Thukje village and Samad Rokchan, it lies within the Tso Kar Wetland Conservation Reserve and is noted for birdlife, Changpa nomadic settlements, and stark high-altitude desert scenery.

Visitors can expect a vast high-altitude lake basin surrounded by arid mountains and open plains at over 4,500 metres. The lake shows white salt crusts along its margins and a connected freshwater lagoon to the north. The area is sparsely inhabited with seasonal Changpa nomad camps, yak and wild ass sightings, and extensive birdlife. There are no built structures on the lake itself; viewing is from the shoreline tracks and nearby camping areas. Facilities are very basic and the landscape is remote and windswept.

Tso Kar has long been part of the Rupshu pastoral region used by Changpa nomads for seasonal grazing and traditional salt collection from the lake's saline deposits.

Culturally significant to the Changpa nomadic community who maintain seasonal camps around the lake, herding yaks, horses and Changthangi goats for pashmina wool, and whose pastoral lifestyle is closely linked to the wetland ecosystem.