Lake George called “weereewaa” meaning “bad water” by the aborigines was discovered by Joseph Wild ex-convict on 19th August 1820.
Governor Macquarie visited the area on 28th October 1820 and records in his journal “We sat down to dinner today at half past five and after dinner we drank a bumper toast to the future settlers of the shores of Lake George - which name I have given this grand and magnificent sheet of water in honour of his present majesty” (George IV).
Because of Lake George’s strange and sudden fluctuations in volume (the lake has no surface outlet), its hydrology has been the subject of much speculation that it may be connected underground to another water system. The mysterious filling and drying episodes on both short term (hours) and long term (years) time scales are most likely attributed to variations in rainfall, run-off and evaporation. Between 1820 & 1970 the lake was completely dry fives times and reached its peak recorded depth of about 24 feet twice in 1823 and 1874.
The Lake occupies the floor of a rift valley and the abrupt change in terrain from the lake shore to the escarpment on its western flank marks the line of a geological fault.
The nearby trigonometrical station and Geary's Gap, the pass through which the Federal Highway crosses the escarpment are believed to have been named after Daniel Geary who was district constable of Go in 1823. The push Ben Hall and his gang bailed-up, robbed and held captive travelers on the road at Geary's Gap on 26th January 1865.
Lake George is an ancient lake, believed to be more than a million years old. Originally, small streams drained its catchments into the Ass River, but around 27,000 years ago the escarpment rose and blocked all surface links.
When full, the lake is one of the saltiest water bodies in inland NSW - almost as salty as the ocean.
The Lake is 25 kilometres long and 10 kilometres wide, It is renowned for emptying and filling on a cyclical bases and for the treachery of its waters when full. A number of people have drowned in its waters.
The thickness of sediment beneath the lake exceeds 250 metres and sediments have been dated at 3-5 million years.
In the 1850s the lake was stocked with Murray Cod and the lake was trawled with a small fishing trawler, but drought conditions in the 1890s through to 1902 forced the cod into the few small creek mouths feeding the lake and eventually they died out.
During World War II, a wooden ‘dummy’ ship was floated on the lake and used for bombing practice by the Royal Australian Air Force. It is possible that there is still unexploded ordnance settled into the lake bed.
Due to the ongoing drought in Australia, Lake George dried in November 2002, and remained so as of May 2007. As at September 2007 there were large pools of water in the lake. The last time the lake was as dry was in the 1940s, although it did partially dry in 1986, leaving large pools of water. When the lake is empty it is used by farmers to graze sheep and cattle.Wine grapes are grown along the western edge of the lake, on the escarpment.
Lake George is the site of an experimental scientific wave behaviour platform established by researchers from the Civil Engineering department of the Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra.
Hang gliders are flown from the escarpment when easterly winds form standing waves. Pilots can then fly along the twenty-five kilometre length of the lake. Unpowered model aircraft are also flown from this area, and powered models are flown from the lake floor.