Zelda franchise strategy guide/Locations/Lake Hylia

Lake Hylia is the name of a fictional area in the Zelda series. In most games, the lake is fed by a river which flows from a waterfall which flows from a mountain (usually Death Mountain).

The Legend of Zelda
Though it is never officially named in The Legend of Zelda, many fans of the series theorize that the lake in central Hyrule on which Level 1 and Level 4 are located is Lake Hylia. This is due in part to its resemblance to Lake Hylia in other games. Though the area around the lake is inhabited by various creatures, the lake itself seems to be inhabited solely by Zoras.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
In  A Link to the Past Lake Hylia is in southeast Hyrule and has small caves coming off it. In the center of the lake is an island featuring a fairy pond that is inhabited by Venus, Queen of the Fairies, who will upgrade your ability to carry bombs or arrows if you give her enough money. Outside the pond is a warp tile that grants access to the Ice Palace in the Dark World. In addition, the Ice Rod is found in a cave in the northeast, as is the Good/Golden Bee, a bottled insect that can be unleashed to attack foes.

The lake itself is fed from Zora's River, which in turn flows from Death Mountain.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
In Ocarina of Time, Lake Hylia is a lake in the south of Hyrule, towards the west. It is closed off by a gate but can be entered on Epona or by scaling a ladder hidden behind one gate pillar. There is also portal from Zora's Domain and it is possible to float down river from Gerudo Valley. Lake Hylia is fed by water from Zora's River. There are numerous small islands in the lake linked by bridges. The largest island is the warp point for the Serenade of Water and below it lies in the Water Temple. During the seven years of Link's sleep, Lake Hylia loses most of its water due to the boss of the Water Temple, Morpha. Also in Lake Hylia, there is a laboratory and a fishing pond.

Four Swords Adventures
Lake Hylia is the first level in Four Swords Adventures. It is located in the east of Hyrule. Unlike in the previous games where Lake Hylia is one massive lake, Lake Hylia in Four Swords Adventures is a series of small lakes connected by rivers.

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
In The Minish Cap, Lake Hylia is located in the east of Hyrule. The water enters the Lake by river from Veil Falls to the north. To the south is the Minish Woods, and to the west Lon Lon Ranch. Stockwell, the shop-owner from Hyrule Town, owns property here, and his dog Fifi lives there. Librari, the Minish elder of the library, The Lake's most important feature is the Temple of Droplets, the fourth dungeon (a Minish-sized one).

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Lake Hylia returns in Twilight Princess, being one of the three major focus points of Lanayru Province. Lake Hylia is fed by Zora's River, flowing out of the waterfalls in Zora's Domain. Beneath the surface of the lake lies the Lakebed Temple. When Link first encounters Lake Hylia in the Twilight Realm, it is almost completely drained of water due to Zora's Domain being frozen over. On the edge of the lake lies the spring of the Light spirit Lanayru.

The Great Bridge of Hylia is the only way to cross Lake Hylia from Hyrule Field. It is possible that the gigantic tree on the south side of the Great Bridge of Hylia is the same tree on the island above Water Temple in Ocarina of Time; this would suggest centuries of erosion drove the lakebed deeper and deeper into a chasm until it was far below the rest of Hyrule, also explaining the Gorges around Zora's River and it's tributaries. It looks like the entrance to Lanayru's shrine may have been the Ocarina of Time Water Temple entrance.

Geology
Though Lake Hylia in A Link to the Past is a fictional lake, aspects about it suggest it is a maar lake, a kind of volcanic cone. The evident details include: It is not known whether Lake Hylia is or was ever intended to be a maar or not. For comparison, see Lake Nyos, an active maar in Cameroon with many similarities to Lake Hylia.
 * Hyrule has other volcanic activity nearby, such as Death Mountain, establishing volcanism in the area.
 * The lake is small, round and very deep, typical of a bowl-shaped maar.
 * Some of the lake edges are surrounded with steep walls, typical of maar formations, formed by a maar's initial bowl-shaping eruption.
 * The lake's faerie spring island could conceivably be a man-made (or faerie-made) degassing pump, to prevent carbon dioxide from oversaturating the lake water. Such pumps work to fountain water from the bottom of the lake to the top, expelling excess gas before it can build up at the bottom.  Though real degassing pumps (such as at Lake Nyos) are fountains that spray water from the lake bottom up into the air, the noted absence of a fountain at Lake Hylia could mean either that:
 * The maar is inactive. Considering Ocarina of Time and the presence of fish in Lake Hylia, this is likely.
 * The faerie spring decarbonates the water and releases the gas into the air. This is less likely, as carbon dioxide sinks in atmosphere, and would blanket the surrounding ground and lake surface with a thin layer of unbreathable air.  Swimming would be impossible.  This assumes that the faerie spring doesn't teleport the gas to a separate location.