Lake County, Oregon
Lake County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 8,160. Its county seat is Lakeview. The county is named after the many lakes found within its boundaries, including Lake Abert, Summer Lake, Hart Lake, and Goose Lake.
Lake County | |
|---|---|
Lake County Courthouse in Lakeview | |
Location within the U.S. state of Oregon | |
Oregon's location within the U.S. | |
| Coordinates: 42°47′N 120°23′W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Oregon |
| Founded | October 24, 1874 |
| Named for | Multiple lakes |
| Seat | Lakeview |
| Largest city | Lakeview |
| Area | |
| • Total | 8,358 sq mi (21,650 km2) |
| • Land | 8,139 sq mi (21,080 km2) |
| • Water | 219 sq mi (570 km2) 2.6% |
| Population (2020) | |
| • Total | 8,160 |
| • Estimate (2023) | 8,293 |
| • Density | 1.0/sq mi (0.4/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−8 (Pacific) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−7 (PDT) |
| Congressional district | 2nd |
| Website | www |
Lake County is in the high desert region known as the Oregon Outback, on the northwestern edge of the Great Basin. The county is generally divided between the communities around Lakeview and Paisley to the south and the communities around Christmas Valley, Fort Rock, and Silver Lake to the north.
Its economy consists largely of agriculture and natural resource management and extraction. It is home to many large cattle ranches, hay farms, and timber holdings (both public and private), as well as several frontier towns and early 20th-century homesteads. Although lumber was once a primary economic driver in Lake County, today only one mill remains, at Lakeview.