Balarat is both a place and an organization. Physically, the Balarat Outdoor Education Center is a 750-acre, Denver Public School District owned facility that is located in the foothills northwest of Boulder, Colorado. The mountain campus includes representative biotic communities, assorted evidence of prior human inhabitants, and modern facilities that can house the 110 student visitors and staff who reside there virtually every day school of the school year. The Balarat Site is located in Boulder County, Colorado and is 46 highway miles northwest of Denver, Colorado. Elevation at the entrance is 8,000 feet above sea level. The terrain of the site varies from mountain slopes to relatively flat meadows.

Temperatures on the site range from 90 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer months to 25 to 30 degrees below zero Fahrenheit in the winter. There are often strong winds, especially during autumn and spring. Lightning can also be a weather concern from early spring until winter.