The nearest towns are Kazantsevo close to the northern lakeshore and Guseletovo near the southern end.

[1] Gorkoye is an endorheic lake that lies close to the northern edge of one of the wide ravines of glacial origin cutting diagonally across the Ob Plateau.

The lake has an hourglass shape, stretching roughly from northeast to southwest for over 10 kilometers (6.2 mi).

It has a very narrow middle section that almost divides the lake in two, with a northern part that is smaller than the southern one.

[3] The northern shore of lake Gorkoye (Chernokurynskoye) is located 2 kilometers (1.2 mi) to the southeast and lake Bolshoye Ostrovnoye 17 kilometers (11 mi) to the northeast.