The pool is not actually the lowest point of the basin. The lowest point is several miles to the west, the exact point which is lowest changes. However, the salt flats are dangerous to travel across (in many cases being only a thin white crust over mud), therefore the sign states that the lowest point is at the pool, where people can see it. Some people say that it is the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere, but this is not true. The lowest point is actually Laguna del Carbón in Argentina at -105 meters (-344 feet).