Just outside of Coleraine Township, in greater Cincinnati, there is something eerie and magical. That something is what high school students around the city have deemed “Marshmallow Lake”. It’s supposed to be haunted because someone dumped a body back there, but it’s one of those things that nobody really knows. You know what else nobody knows? What the hell this “lake” is made out of. You can walk on it. It’s spongy and white, powdery in some places, sticky in others, and if you take a piece of it with you (I’ve taken samples home in bags before) it melts into an off-white sort of pudding.
There are 2 parts to marshmallow lake, there is the lake part, and what I call “the caves”. It sort of looks like some kind of industrial stuff was dumped into a pond and they missed, leaving the surrounding area mallow-fied too.
This is the Google Earth shot of it. You can see how the “cave” parts are kind of up at the top on the right, and then this marshmallow stuff kind of runs down a hill and pools into a lake. I don’t have any pictures of the “lake” part, but I would encourage everyone to go check it out, DURING THE DAY. It’s at the end of Lick Road in Coleraine, kind of behind Rumpke dump (which really makes me question it).
I DO however have some shots of the caves. They are weird because they were for an assignment for an art foundations class. I’m not a photographer, I’m not into weird conceptual photography, I just thought it was a funny project idea so please don’t judge the photography too harshly, just look at the setting. That is important.
Also: This is not me in the photos. Just saying.
I know it looks like rock in the picture, but I swear it’s all spongy!
It’s hard to tell in the pictures, but the caves go down for pretty much forever. They got really tight and we didn’t have a light to take with us, and the marshmallow stuff crumbles away pretty easy….aaaaannnd there were bats.
I honestly think it looks like the moon. I’ve never been there, but I’ve seen the alleged footage.
So yeah, long story short, this is an awesome place that everyone should check out. If you’re into photography or even short film making it’s a great place to shoot because it’s so unbelievably surreal.
JAIMI RYAN 
I was doing research on the environmental movement in the US, so I decided to check out the origins and history of Rumpke dump. That got me thinking about going to Marshmallow Lake super late at night in high school, so I did an offhand Google search (“marshmallow lake cincinnati”) and this is the first thing that came up. Small world! I’ve never been there during the day, but now I have to check it out the next time I’m in the Nasty. Glad to see you’re still making dope art Jaimi!
Some friends and I went and explored this after finding this post. A very intriguing place to explore; definitely feels like some sort of moonwalk, and tastes like chalk. I was able to figure out what it is – it’s excess minerals removed from hard water by the Charles Bolton Water Plant just north of it. Not a health hazard or anything, but definitely an interesting place to go. Check the link for further explanation.
ftp://ftp.mdt.mt.gov/research/LIBRARY/IA_TR-459FINAL.PDF
Thank you!!! I’ve always wondered what it was! And I’m so glad my post got people to go there!