[3]: Map 2  The lake is a remnant of the old Champlain Sea, which flooded eastern Ontario at the end of last ice age.

[3]: Map 5 European settlement of the lake basin began c. 1816 as settlers moved north of the Rideau into areas such as Franktown.

The ospreys and herons also breed inland from the lake, for example in the nearby Scotch Corners Wetland.

The provincially significant Blanding's turtle is known from the lake;[6] its long-term survival likely depends upon sufficient nesting areas.

Eels were once abundant, but hydroelectric dams downstream have all but eliminated this species from the lake and the watershed.