For comparison, laboratory measurements show distilled water has a visibility of approximately 80 metres (260 ft).

The nearby Blue Lake Hut, with 16 bunks, provides accommodation for more than 700 trampers each year.

[3][5] Blue Lake lies within the rohe (tribal area) of Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō.

As part of the iwi's 2010 treaty settlement, the lake passed into tribal ownership and was then given back to the Crown.

The lake was traditionally used in ceremonies to cleanse the bones and release the spirits of the dead, so they could begin their journey to Hawaiki, and the iwi regard its waters as tapu (sacred).