[4] Access is via Lake Rotokawau Road, from SH30 at Tikitere (Hell's Gate).

Koaro (Galaxias brevipinnis), banded kokopu (Galaxias fasciatus), long-finned eel (Anguilla dieffenbachia), short-finned eel (Anguilla australis), smelt (Retropinna retropinna) and common bully (Gobiomorphus cotidianus) live in the lake.

[9] The eruption had the characteristics of a basaltic dike as there is a line of eruptive vents[8] almost at right angles to the usual vent alignments of the recently active Ōkataina Caldera.

The maar crater is located almost exactly where this alignment intercepts a postulated continuation of the known fault defining the southern limit of the Tikitere Graben.

The lake has one major inflow, the Waimata Stream, on the south side and also small geothermal springs on the north-west shore.