5 Bodies Of Water In America With Unbelievably Vibrant Blue Gatorade-Colored Hues

America's wild lands are full of striking natural colors that can sometimes remind us of our favorite sports drinks. This fascinating coincidence was permanently soliloquized in the lyrics to "America, the Beautiful": "Oh, beautiful, for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain, for Riptide Rush mountain majesties above the Fruit Punch plain." While beautiful natural colors can take many shades, arguably, the most impressive section of the Earth's color palette is her striking blue lakes, rivers, and beaches. Whether it is because they are located close to significant limestone deposits, urged on by coral reef's white calcium carbonate, or glacially floured, they can reach amazing shades of blue.  Most of these waters are near the top of snow-covered mountains and look like Gatorade's Glacier Freeze flavor. There are also fantastic sea-level blues that invite you to lie in white sand and snorkel in Cool Blue azure pools.

As you'll find out below, Gatorade-esque bodies of water aren't always easy to access, but they are always worth the trek. Marine Biologist Wallace J. Nichols spent his entire life exploring the relationship between humans and water. Nichols wrote in his book "Blue Mind" that when we're in or near water, we enter "a mildly meditative state characterized by calm, peacefulness, unity, and a sense of general happiness and satisfaction with life in the moment," an effect he named "the blue mind." While water's meditative effects are triggered regardless of the colors at its surface, based on Nichols's title, it's reasonable to assume that the bluer the water, the bluer the mind.

Our first lake can have colors so blue that if you were served the water in a Gatorade bottle, you would call it unnatural. Located in Washington State's Henry M. Jackson Wilderness, Blanca Lake is fed by glacial melt, which gives the lake a beautiful shade of Glacier Freeze — especially when the sunlight hits it just right. If you can reach it, the lake rewards you with Gatorade-blue waters amidst an incredible alpine backdrop, but the hike is a doozy. The trail starts in the Wild Sky Wilderness before winding up 37 switchbacks that slowly take you from second-growth forests into an alpine basin at the foot of Monte Cristo, Kyes, and Columbia peaks. The trail's highest point is at Virgin Lake, another beautiful body of water, but the real star of the show is Blanca Lake. 

Take a few minutes to catch your breath and soak it all in, then start meandering around the water's edges. Fallen trees, rocky ledges, and other natural pile-ups turn Blanca Lake into a playground that invites you to get up close and, in some cases, even balance on top of the colorful water. Aim for the lake entry and exit points, where the Glacier Freeze starts flowing. Seeing this blue water heading from its alpine heights towards the valley below is a once-in-a-lifetime sight. While the hike is strenuous, the trailhead to access Blanca Lake is only two hours from Seattle. Even with an extra thirty minutes to gaze longingly at the pristine shades of blue before you, this hike is still doable on a day trip. Get out of the city and get it in you.  

The stunning waters of Juno Beach, Florida, are the most accessible Gatorade blue waters we'll examine today. Many options on our list will require a passport or several hours of walking through the backcountry, but Juno Beach is just a 1.5-hour drive from the Miami airport. While there are several great under-the-radar Florida destinations with charming waters, the blue at Juno Beach stands out. The Palm Beaches says Juno Beach is more Kool-Aid blue than Gatorade, but we think this water is the exact color that is sometimes poured on Superbowl-winning coaches (via YouTube). Regardless of your preferred flavor, this entire coastline looks so good you'd be forgiven for thinking you can drink it.

Humans aren't the only ones drawn to Juno Beach's blue waters. The area is also the second-largest nesting ground for loggerhead turtles on the planet. In 2023, local conservationists recorded over 25,000 turtle nests on a 9.5-mile stretch of Juno Beach. There must be something in the water. You can find out why these turtles love the local electrolytes by heading to the Loggerhead Marinelife Center, one of Florida's most-visited ocean conservation projects. The center hosts daily events like beach clean-ups, turtle hospital tours, and live nest excavations to help you get up close and personal with the wildlife spawned in these Gatorade-blue waters. They even host a "blue mind" day celebrating the benefits of spending time near blue water. Once a year, you can paddle out with other passionate water enthusiasts and meet on the edge of the deep blue sea. 

Some traveling TikTokers think that the Washington Parks Department might be filling up their lakes with blue Gatorade, and they point to Colchuk Lake as a reason why.  This beauty looks like it was poured straight from a fruity blue well over at PepsiCo, Inc., but this lake is no artificial wonder. The water's intense turquoise hue is thanks to glacial flouring, a term used to describe the sandpaper-like effect of ice. When it melts off glaciers, it carries fine rock particles with it, which gather together and affect how the sunlight reflects off the water, eventually creating the otherwordly colors that make lakes like this one pop.

The journey to Colchuck Lake is a brutal one. Head off from The Lake Stuart trailhead and get ready to climb. Once you pass Mountaineer Creek and through the trail's switchback, the views open up to something extraordinary. The Washington Trails Association describes coming around the final corner and popping out of the trees at Colchuck Lake as a "religious experience." To make the experience even holier, consider spending the night on the shorelines of this crystal-clear blue lake. Camping in this area is possible, but you must obtain a permit to camp between May and October. These permits are tough to get, so plan ahead if you want to enjoy waking up to incredible views of Gatorade-blue water around you and epic alpine peaks towering above your site.

Peyto Lake, in Alberta, Canada, is the northernmost body of Gatorade-colored waters we'll look at today. Set 40 kilometers north of Lake Louise, Peyto's scenic viewpoint is an iconic stop along the Icefield Parkway in Banff National Park. The park system is famous for its majestic mountains and vibrant blue waters. Lake Louise and Moraine Lake are the two most popular stops in this system, but for visitors traveling here solely to get a look at waters of the crystal-blue persuasion, Peyto might be the best of them all. 

There are a few reasons why: The lake is an easy stop on the Icefield Parkway, there are several vantage points that will provide everything from a great view of the whole lake to paths leading down to the shore, and the lake looks like a wolf, which is pretty cool. Some of Banff's other, more popular lakes are also blue, but they also have parking lots that fill up by sunrise, complicated shuttle systems, or long and arduous hikes to get a glimpse. Not Peyto Lake. Here, you can decide how long you hike. 

The quickest way to the blue waters is the Peyto Lake Upper Viewpoint, a short walk from the parking lot. Seasoned visitors recommend continuing your trek past the viewpoint to check out epic rocky views of the lake and, eventually, find yourself down by the shore. You can also scramble up nearby Bow Summit or  Observation Peak to turn your walk into a quick hike and enjoy the lake from the mountaintop.

Nothing says paradise quite like the turquoise-blue waters of Isla Mujeres. One of the best family-friendly things to do in Cancun is to get out of town for a little while by taking the 35-minute ferry ride to Isla Mujeres. The jewel of this lowkey island next door is Playa Norte. The Lonely Planet once described the water on this beach as "the color of blue raspberry syrup." Coincidentally, that is almost precisely what some people describe as the flavor of Cool Blue Gatorade (via Fandom.com). 

Get even more up close and personal with the striking waters of Isla Mujeres with an incredibly unique museum exhibit. The Museo Subacuático de Arte (MUSA) chose this Gatorade-blue shoreline to develop a living underwater art museum. MUSA submerged over 500 pH-neutral sculptures into the area's Cool Blue waters. Many of those artworks are within easy reach of Isla Mujeres near Manchones Reef, one of the best dive spots on the island. You can snorkel and scuba dive among the artwork while it thrives off the electrolyte-rich waters and slowly develops into thriving coral reefs. 

If you prefer staying above water, Isla Mujeres is still a grand island to explore. The cruisy streets are filled with golf carts and rental companies that will happily hook you up with a set of wheels for a day trip or a weeklong stay. You can explore the entire island in about 8 kilometers of golf carting. Spend your morning in Playa Norte dipping your toes into the clear waters, and then mosey on south after lunch to watch stunning Gatorade water clash with coral heads at the Mirador Punta Sur.