The city of Las Vegas lies 140 kilometres (90 mi) northeast of Lake Mojave.

[8] 15 alluvial fans abut the shores of Lake Mojave that face the Soda Mountains.

[9] A present-day 40 kilometres (25 mi) bay exists on the northwestern side of the Silver Lake basin and includes wavecut terraces and a beach ridge.

[13] Sediments from Lake Mojave and its two successor basins may be part of the sources of sand for the Kelso Dunes.

[5] Presently, a number of springs on the western side of the Lake Mojave basin form small waterbodies.

[16] Most water of the Mojave River ultimately comes from the San Bernardino Mountains, 201 kilometres (125 mi) southwest,[3] where precipitation reaches 840 millimetres (33 in) per year.

[5] Precipitation increased in response to southward shifts of the polar jet stream;[17] this and floods probably contributed to the formation of Lake Mojave.

[20] Compared to today, water flow would have to be at least ten times higher to allow for the formation of Lake Mojave.

[30] Lake Mojave was surrounded by a mix of pinyon-juniper and Joshua tree woodlands down to altitudes of 330 metres (1,080 ft) and desert vegetation.

[13] At the time, numerous animal species lived around the lake, including bighorn sheep, black-tailed jackrabbit, coots, desert cottontail, desert mule deer, ducks, geese, Merriam's kangaroo rat, pocket mice, shellfish and tui chubs, which could provide food for early humans.

[38] Between 13,600 and 11,500 years before present, the formation of a spillway caused Lake Mojave to abandon its A-shoreline and drop to the B-shoreline.

[41] Wind erosion affected the beach and delta deposits left by Lake Mojave, forming aeolian sediments.

Individual occurrences occurred in 1916–1917, 1938-1939 and 1969;[3] this latter lake stage was photographed and it submerged the Tonopah and Tidewater railroad.

[14] Such resurgences of the lake depend on anomalously high precipitation on the San Bernardino Mountains,[44] and are climatically linked to the Little Ice Age and other glacial expansion episodes.

[46] A steady food and freshwater supply as well as the presence of rocks that could be used to manufacture tools drew early humans towards Lake Mojave.

[49] Bifaces and projectiles have been found on its shores, the latter are dated about 10,000 - 8,000 years before present,[9] these archaeological findings are known as the "Lake Mojave" complex.