Lake Jean historically had a low pH due to impairment by atmospheric deposition.

Lake Jean is stocked with trout and contains various species of warmwater game fish and panfish.

Its main uses are recreation and fishing and it is one of the common destinations of visitors to Ricketts Glen State Park, in which it is located.

The main outflow of Lake Jean is an unnamed tributary of Kitchen Creek.

[1][2] Lake Jean is entirely within the United States Geological Survey quadrangle of Red Rock.

[4] The village of Red Rock is located 3 miles (4.8 km) to the south of the lake.

[2] The main rock formation in the watershed of Lake Jean is the Burgoon Sandstone, which contains interbedded gray shale, conglomerate, and mudstone.

However, a small patch of the Mauch Chunk Formation occurs in the northern part of the watershed.

[7][8][9] As of 1980, the dam and its eastern and western dikes can handle 73 percent of the probable maximum flood without overtopping.

In the summer of 1991, its pH was found to be 5.8, less than the minimum of 6.0 needed to attain its designated uses for aquatic life.

[11] The daily load of acidity at the outflow of Lake Jean is 194.0 pounds (88.0 kg).

The total maximum daily load of acidity at this point is 34.2 pounds (15.5 kg).

[11] In the 1970s, two measurements of the concentration of hydrogen ions in Lake Jean ranged from 0.00020 to 0.00160 milligrams per liter.

[11] In the 1970s, two measurements of the sodium concentration in filtered waters of Lake Jean ranged from 1.10 to 3.50 milligrams per liter.

[2] Discounting Lake Jean itself, a total of 1,414 acres (572 ha) (81.0 percent) of the watershed is forested land.

[2] Lake Jean was entered into the Geographic Names Information System on August 2, 1979.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources added 106 tons of cement stack dust to the lake's frozen surface in the winter of 1959 for this purpose.

[2] In 1995, the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources began adding lime to Lake Jean to combat its acidity.

[7][16] It will take about two weeks to drain the lake, though a stream of water will still flow through its deepest parts.

[17] Lake Jean is listed on the Luzerne County Natural Areas Inventory.

[8] Historically, Lake Jean had a low level of fish biodiversity due to its acidity.

Species such as Aeshna clepsydra and Carterocephalus palaemon mandan have been observed in its vicinity.

At its most severe point, Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources employees had to rake bladderwort off the lake's beaches on a daily basis.

[18] The shores of Lake Jean are lined with hardwood forests, hemlocks, pine trees, and sedges.

[14] According to Times Leader, most of the 330,000 annual visitors to Ricketts Glen State Park visit Lake Jean.

[5] The 0.8-mile-long Beach Trail at Ricketts Glen State Park goes along Lake Jean.