Tavolzhan village lies by the eastern lakeshore, Alexandrovka close to the southwestern end and Mikhailovka near the southern shore.

The nearest city is Petropavl in Kazakhstan, 63 kilometers (39 mi) to the southwest of the southern end.

[3][2] The area of the lake is mainly forest-steppe, with birch-aspen forest in the southern part of Tavolzhan Island.

Yellow-flowered Adonis volgensis grows near the banks and there are reed thickets in stretches of the lakeshore.

A 35,000 hectares (86,000 acres) officially protected area of the Russian Federation has been proposed to be established in lake Tavolzhan.