diff --git a/dvc/dvcfile.py b/dvc/dvcfile.py
--- a/dvc/dvcfile.py
+++ b/dvc/dvcfile.py
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@
 from dvc.utils.collections import apply_diff
 from dvc.utils.serialize import (
     dump_yaml,
-    load_yaml,
     modify_yaml,
     parse_yaml,
     parse_yaml_for_update,
@@ -115,6 +114,14 @@ def _is_git_ignored(self):
             self.repo.fs, LocalFileSystem
         ) and self.repo.scm.is_ignored(self.path)
 
+    def _verify_filename(self):
+        if self.verify:
+            check_dvc_filename(self.path)
+
+    def _check_gitignored(self):
+        if self._is_git_ignored():
+            raise FileIsGitIgnored(self.path)
+
     def _load(self):
         # it raises the proper exceptions by priority:
         # 1. when the file doesn't exists
@@ -125,12 +132,11 @@ def _load(self):
             is_ignored = self.repo.fs.exists(self.path, use_dvcignore=False)
             raise StageFileDoesNotExistError(self.path, dvc_ignored=is_ignored)
 
-        if self.verify:
-            check_dvc_filename(self.path)
+        self._verify_filename()
         if not self.repo.fs.isfile(self.path):
             raise StageFileIsNotDvcFileError(self.path)
-        if self._is_git_ignored():
-            raise FileIsGitIgnored(self.path)
+
+        self._check_gitignored()
         with self.repo.fs.open(self.path, encoding="utf-8") as fd:
             stage_text = fd.read()
         d = parse_yaml(stage_text, self.path)
@@ -330,18 +336,25 @@ def validate(cls, d, fname=None):
         except MultipleInvalid as exc:
             raise StageFileFormatError(f"'{fname}' format error: {exc}")
 
-    def load(self):
-        if not self.exists():
-            return {}
+    def _verify_filename(self):
+        pass  # lockfile path is hardcoded, so no need to verify here
 
-        data = load_yaml(self.path, fs=self.repo.fs)
+    def _load(self):
         try:
-            data = self.validate(data, fname=self.relpath)
+            return super()._load()
+        except StageFileDoesNotExistError:
+            # we still need to account for git-ignored dvc.lock file
+            # even though it may not exist or have been .dvcignored
+            self._check_gitignored()
+            return {}, ""
         except StageFileFormatError as exc:
             raise LockfileCorruptedError(
                 f"Lockfile '{self.relpath}' is corrupted."
             ) from exc
-        return data
+
+    def load(self):
+        d, _ = self._load()
+        return d
 
     @property
     def latest_version_info(self):

Related: 
https://github.com/iterative/dvc/issues/5396
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_lockfile.py b/tests/unit/test_lockfile.py
--- a/tests/unit/test_lockfile.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_lockfile.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import pytest
 
-from dvc.dvcfile import Lockfile, LockfileCorruptedError
+from dvc.dvcfile import FileIsGitIgnored, Lockfile, LockfileCorruptedError
 from dvc.stage import PipelineStage
 from dvc.utils.serialize import dump_yaml
 
@@ -83,3 +83,30 @@ def test_load_when_lockfile_is_corrupted(tmp_dir, dvc, corrupt_data):
     with pytest.raises(LockfileCorruptedError) as exc_info:
         lockfile.load()
     assert "Dvcfile.lock" in str(exc_info.value)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("dvcignored", [True, False])
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("file_exists", [True, False])
+def test_try_loading_lockfile_that_is_gitignored(
+    tmp_dir, dvc, scm, dvcignored, file_exists
+):
+    # it should raise error if the file is git-ignored, even if:
+    #   1. The file does not exist at all.
+    #   2. Or, is dvc-ignored.
+    files = [".gitignore"]
+    if dvcignored:
+        files.append(".dvcignore")
+
+    for file in files:
+        with (tmp_dir / file).open(mode="a+") as fd:
+            fd.write("dvc.lock")
+
+    if file_exists:
+        (tmp_dir / "dvc.lock").write_text("")
+
+    scm._reset()
+
+    with pytest.raises(FileIsGitIgnored) as exc_info:
+        Lockfile(dvc, "dvc.lock").load()
+
+    assert str(exc_info.value) == "'dvc.lock' is git-ignored."

ignore dvc.lock file?
We started not traversing through git-ignored directories and files looking for `.dvc` file and `dvc.yaml` file for performance reasons on #5265.

But there's a question for what should we do if the `dvc.lock` file is git-ignored. Currently, we assume the lockfile as empty if
it dvc-ignored, but the check for gitignore is not done.

@pmrowla had some concerns regarding experiments:

> > An open question is, what should we do about lockfiles if they are git-ignored or dvc-ignored?
> 
> I think users should be able to ignore lockfile. Dvc is able (to some extent) to work without it, so removing this possibility would limit `dvc`'s functionality. And I guess one can come with some use cases where this is actually a feature. For example any educational material that's purpose is to show how running the pipeline looks like.

One thing to keep in mind is that experiments runs in temp directories (and on remote machines in the future) have to git commit `dvc.lock` in order for us to retrieve the experiment result. We can (and already do) force-add gitignored lock files internally for these types of runs, and on the user's local `exp apply` the dvc.lock file would no longer be staged/committed like normal. But this does seem like the kind of thing that may lead to unexpected behavior in the future and it may be safer for us to forbid it?

_Originally posted by @pmrowla in https://github.com/iterative/dvc/issues/5265#issuecomment-765231979_

---

tests/unit/test_lockfile.py::test_try_loading_lockfile_that_is_gitignored[False-True] tests/unit/test_lockfile.py::test_try_loading_lockfile_that_is_gitignored[False-False]
tests/unit/test_lockfile.py::test_load_when_lockfile_does_not_exist