The lake is located within the Gurktal Alps (Nock Mountains) at a height of 1,763 m (5,784 ft) above sea-level.

Lake Turrach is fed by a mountain stream and several marshy meadows, the water drains northwards into the Styrian Mur valley at Predlitz.

It was the first Carinthian lake to be protected from the discharge of wastewater by a sewage system.

Today, several species of fish occur, among them brown trout and arctic char.

Since 2012 the Carinthian part of the lake belongs to the UNESCO Salzburg Lungau and Nock Mountains biosphere reserve.