It is reached via Alberta Highway 41 (Buffalo Trail), and the tourist community of Elkwater lies on its southern shore.

Elkwater Lake has a surface area of 2.31 km2 (0.89 sq mi) and a maximum depth of 8.4 m (28 ft).

It lies in the hydrographic basin of the South Saskatchewan River and has a drainage area of 25.7 km2 (9.9 sq mi).

[1] It is a mesotrophic lake, and it hosts a fishery for Yellow Perch and Northern Pike.

Geologically, Elkwater Lake sits in a glacial meltwater valley that was carved during the retreat of the Laurentide Ice Sheet from the area at the end of the Pleistocene Epoch.