Humboldt Sink is an intermittent dry lake bed, approximately 11 mi (18 km) long, and 4 mi (6 km) across, in northwestern Nevada in the United States. The body of water in the sink is known as Humboldt Lake. The sink and its surrounding area was a notorious and dreaded portion of overland travel to California during the westward migrations of the mid-1800s, which were largely undertaken along the California Trail. These landforms are named for the Humboldt River, which is in turn named after German naturalist Alexander von Humboldt.