It lies on Newcastle Creek close to the small town of Elliott on the Stuart Highway, about halfway between Darwin and Alice Springs.

There are two near-permanent waterholes on Newcastle Creek - South Newcastle and Longreach – that merge with Lake Woods during major floods, creating a large expanse of open water.

[1] A 1,240-square-kilometre (480 sq mi) tract of land, corresponding to the area of the lake when fully inundated, has been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area (IBA) because it has supported up to 116,000 waterbirds when flooded, including over 1% of the world population of plumed whistling-ducks.

[2] Bird species recorded in substantial numbers include the Australian pelican, Oriental pratincole and little curlew.

The IBA is the only known inland breeding site in the Northern Territory for great egrets.