It sits at the top of the Tippecanoe Watershed and drains one square mile. Maximum depth is 108 feet and average depth is 43 feet. Hydraulic retention time is nine years. Little Crooked Lake, a 13-acre basin at the east end, contains 2 percent of the lake volume.
Access is available at a public ramp at the west end.
Most of the north shore is a wooded nature preserve. Water quality at Crooked Lake is very good. Spatterdock and water lilies are the major emergent plant species. Coontail is the major submerged plant and typically grows to 18 feet deep. The bottom is marl and sand.