It is located on the waters and surrounding lands of Lake Billy Chinook, an impoundment of the Crooked, Deschutes, and Metolius rivers.

The park offers two full-service campgrounds, rental cabins, food and supplies for sale, marina access to Lake Billy Chinook with watercraft rentals, fishing, day use and picnic areas, and hiking trails.

[1] Lake Billy Chinook lies in canyons carved by the three rivers into earth held in place by basaltic caprock.

[3] Embraced by the Crooked River and Deschutes River Arms of Lake Billy Chinook, the isolated, 200-acre (0.81 km2) plateau called "The Island" (actually a peninsula, but with the appearance of an island due to its isolation by high, sheer cliffs) was designated a research natural area in 1986.

The Island supports one of the last relatively pristine remnants of pre-settlement ecology in the western United States, and was closed to virtually all public access in 1997.