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 over time. 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. This is not the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere. Laguna del Carbón in Argentina is lower, at -105 meters (-344 feet).