The path of the Colorado River has historically wound its way through Arizona, Mexico, and typically into the Gulf of California / Sea of Cortez. But over the millennia, the river’s course has naturally altered many times and flowed into the Cahuilla Basin instead of the Gulf of California / Sea of Cortez, filling the basin and creating a body of water known as Lake Cahuilla.
Although it formed in the same area as the Salton Sea, it was a much larger body of water.
Map of Lake Cahuilla with an outline of the Salton Sea for Comparison
