It lies about 3 kilometres (2 mi) west of Esperance and is bounded to the east by the South Coast Highway.

[5] It is believed that the construction of the South Coast Highway and a rail line altered the flow of water into the lake reducing its salinity which is why (as of 2017) it no longer appears pink.

For many years Pink Lake was a tourist attraction in the Esperance region with the surrounding area, an arterial road and local businesses adopting the name.

[3] Lake Hillier is located on Middle Island in the Recherche Archipelago off the coast of Cape Arid, east of Esperance.

Increasing salt concentrations combined with decreasing water levels from evaporation during summer trigger the appearance of the pink hue that can be seen in lakes across the country.

[8] The lake has been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area because it usually supports significant numbers of hooded plovers and sometimes over 1% of the world population of banded stilts.