The word "pitch" is just an old fashioned name for "tar". The first Englishman to visit the lake was Sir Walter Raleigh, who used the pitch to seal his ship to prevent leaks.

Pitch Lake is a 95 acre lake of tar on Trinidad's west coast, in the appropriately named "La Brea" district.

The guidebook I have says the lake is often a disappointment for tourists who drive down from Port of Spain, because it looks like a large parking lot.

Personally, I found the trip very worthwhile. This is, after all, the largest deposit of naturally occurring tar in the world.