Today, the west side of the lake is privately owned[5] and lined with mansions and a public path known as the "Dog Walk" (a closed portion of Lansdowne Road), while the east side of the lake is owned by the City of Ottawa[5] and is home to the Caldwell-Carver Conservation Area.

Its watershed includes the nearby Beechwood Cemetery and the next-door Sand Pits Lake, better known as "The Pond".

Strong currents and eddies over the escarpments eroded the marine clay, exhuming a pre-existing glaciofluvial deposit, causing the lake to form.

Clay deposits at least 5 metres thick from the Last Glacial Period underlies the northern, eastern and southern boundaries of the lake.

Aquatic plants include water milfoil, yellow pond-lily, lesser duckweed, greater bladderwort and purple loosestrife.

[7] In 1954, hundreds of dead fish caused by a "strange malady" were found covering the shore of the lake.

[10] Dumping material was of a "soggy nature and had an offensive odor" (sic), and "contained broken bottles, old tin cans, car mufflers, old washing machines and rubber tires".