It is fed by glaciers (most importantly Henrietta Nesmith and the Gilmour Glaciers) from the surrounding Eureka Uplands—Palaeozoic rocks north of the lake, rising up to 2,500 m (8,200 ft) above sea level—and drained by the 15 km-long (9.3 mi) Ruggles River, which flows into Chandler Fjord on the northern east coast of Ellesmere Land.

Still further north are the Upper and Lower Dumbell Lakes, with Upper Dumbell Lake 5.2 km (3 mi) southwest of Alert, Canada's northernmost settlement on the coast of the Lincoln Sea, part of the Arctic Ocean.

He named the lake in honour of General William Babcock Hazen, who had organized the expedition.

Lake Hazen is populated by two morphotypes of Arctic char, a larger and a smaller.

[6] All named rivers and creeks are listed in a clockwise manner, starting in the south: At the southwestern end (from south to north): On the northwest coast (from southwest to northeast): At the northeast end (from north to south): On the southeast coast (only in the southwest, near the southwest end of the lake): Hikers can start their hiking trips at Lake Hazen itself, or from Tanquary Fiord warden station at Tanquary Fiord Airport 70 km (43 mi) southwest of the lake.

Lake Hazen is the setting of a major story plot in the novel Good Morning, Midnight, published 2016.