The lake is elongated in shape, longer along a north–south axis than it is wide, reflecting its artificial origins and its location in one of the valleys in a generally hilly area.

[3] Smadbeck Avenue (NY 52) closely follows the western shore near the northern and central sections of the lake; local roads such as Lakeshore Drive complete the circuit.

[5] Around it they built small bungalows and cottages meant to be weekend or summer homes for middle-income families, selling them in lavish ads in the New York Daily Mirror.

Eventually, 5,400 homes were built in the three square miles (8 km²) around the lake,[6] accounting for one-third of the town's housing stock.

[2] In the years after the war, as automobile access to the region from the city increased with the opening of first the Taconic State Parkway and then Interstate 684, Lake Carmel became one of the earliest exurbs, home to more and more people year-round.

Since they could not legally be hunted or shot due to the close proximity of dwellings,[7] the town tried various means to control the population such as egg treatment and growing a lake buffer.

In 2000 the city and the county reached a deal to build a plant to handle sewage from the many homes around the lake whose original septic systems were failing, and divert it to the Hudson River.