Carpenter Ridge rises steeply from the lake's south shore and continues farther to the southwest, where it reaches its highest point.

[citation needed] Independence Lake lies in a deep glacial valley that was carved by a former glacier on Mount Lola's eastern slope.

[5]: 9 A "relatively pristine"[5]: 7  ecosystem surrounds the lake, comprising a number of vegetation types characteristic of the Sierra Nevada upper montane forest.

It is thought that the past century of fire suppression has altered these forests' equilibriums, allowing the white fir to proliferate at the expense of the aspen and Jeffrey pine.

In 1947, Sierra Pacific Power Company[14] (now a subsidiary of NV Energy) bought the land around it and closed the area to most public access.

[15] In the 1970s, Independence Lake became the latest focus of Disney's long-held aspirations of building a family-oriented ski resort and mountain village in the Sierra Nevada.

For years they had worked on a proposal to develop the Mineral King valley in the southern Sierra, but it faced increasingly long odds due to legal issues and environmentalist opposition.

At a public meeting where Disney was to present its plans, protesters picketed the entrance with signs bearing slogans such as "Don't Mickey Mouse Sierra County".

Opponents of the project cited environmental concerns and fears that the remote rural area's limited facilities would be overwhelmed by the sudden population boom they anticipated.

[18] The United States Congress passed a bill in 2008 directing the Secretary of the Interior to allocate $9 million for "acquisition of the land surrounding Independence Lake" and "protection of the native fishery and water quality of Independence Lake as determined by [a nonprofit conservation organization acting in consultation with the Truckee Meadows Water Authority]".

[5]: 5–6 Many visitors to the lake have claimed to see a ghost, wearing a plaid shirt, in the window of a long abandoned boarded-up lakefront resort building.