Toluca Lake is situated in the southeastern San Fernando Valley straddling the city of Burbank, the Los Angeles district of North Hollywood, and near the unincorporated county area of Universal City, at the northern base of the Hollywood Hills section of the Santa Monica Mountains.

The area’s historic boundaries were Cahuenga Boulevard, Camarillo Street, Clybourn Avenue, and the Los Angeles River, but have been widened to Vineland between the 170 freeway and the Los Angeles River and it is located between two major film and television production studios, Universal Studios to the south and Warner Bros. to the east. The Santa Monica Mountains surround the area.

The geologic Toluca Lake is a 6-acre body of water located near the district’s southeastern boundaries. The historic natural lake was fed by springs of upwelling groundwater from the substantial Los Angeles River and San Fernando Valley subterranean aquifers. Late 19th and 20th century L. A. DWP well extraction and 1930s concrete river channelization lowered the water table, and currently community wells at the lake’s edges maintain the water level. The bottom of the lake is surfaced with four inches of asphalt concrete to prevent seepage. Owned by the surrounding homeowners, the lake has been maintained by the Toluca Lake Property Owners Association, a non-profit corporation established in 1934. The lake, surrounded by a gated community of private residences and the Lakeside Golf Club, is inaccessible to the public.