The First Nation's land base is the 4,266 ha (10,540 acres) Sandy Lake 88 Reserve (Oji-Cree:ᓀᑲᣞ ᕌᑲᐦᐃᑲᓃᐣᐠ (Negaw-zaaga'iganiing).

The community is a fly-in community, serviced by Wasaya, Superior and Perimeter Airlines, and is linked to the rest of the province by a winter ice road that travels southwest towards Deer Lake and Pikangikum, meeting Red Lake via the Nungesser Road, which is open for approximately six weeks during the winter months.

Five doodem are found at Sandy Lake First Nation; these five clans are the: Suckers, Pelicans, Crane, Caribou and Sturgeon.

The Sandy Lake First Nation speaks the Oji-Cree language and uses a variant western Ojibwe Syllabics.

Sandy Lake has a subarctic climate (Dfc) with cold winters and mild summers.