It is located 3 mi (4.8 km) northeast of the small, unincorporated community of Valley Falls, Oregon.

No fish live in the alkaline waters of the lake; however, its dense population of brine shrimp supports a variety of shorebirds.

The earliest evidence for possible human occupation of the basin comes from the Paisley Caves, which were originally excavated by Luther Cressman in the late 1930s.

Cressman found inconclusive evidence that humans could have begun an occupation of the area around 11,000 years ago.

[5] Further excavations of the site by Dennis Jenkins since 2002 have yielded evidence of occupation of the area as far back as 14,300 years ago.

The lake is bordered on the west by a long ridge called Coglan Buttes and on the north by the Coleman Hills.

Most of the precipitation in the area occurs as snowfall during the winter months, and the Chewaucan River system is fed primarily by seasonal snowmelt.

The lake's only other source of fresh water is summer thundershowers that produce a small amount of runoff from Abert Rim.

Because the lake has no outlet, it has developed a high concentration of sodium carbonates, common salt, and alkali in its water.

[1][3][9] Fish cannot survive in the lake because of the high salinity and alkali content; consequently, brine shrimp are abundant.

[citation needed] The first written record of the lake was made by John Work, the leader of a Hudson's Bay Company fur trapping expedition.

[16][17] Lieutenant John C. Fremont named Lake Abert during his 1843 mapping expedition through central and southern Oregon.

Fremont and his Army topographical team were mapping the Oregon Territory from The Dalles on the Columbia River to Sutter's Fort in the Sacramento Valley of California.

Fremont named the lake in honor of Colonel John James Abert, who was chief of the Army's Corps of Topographical Engineers.

There are no developed campgrounds at Lake Abert, but the Bureau of Land Management does allow dispersed camping in the area.