North Lake County, Oregon, is home to the oldest, as well as the newest towns in Lake County.

Silver Lake, Oregon, founded in the late 1800s is steeped in history. Duncan and Thompson Reservoirs are within easy driving distance from Silver Lake, and the town has a gas station, grocery store, restaurants and a motel.

Christmas Valley, Oregon, North Lake County's fastest growing community, didn't come into existence until 1961. It boasts a nine-hole championship golf course, airport, gas stations, grocery stores, motels, restaurants, variety stores, realties, RV parks, and its own bi-monthly newspaper, The Desert Whispers. A vast sand dune system and Crack-in-the-Ground are within easy access.

The town of Fort Rock, Oregon, sports Fort Rock Monument & Fort Rock Cave, the site of the most significant archeological find of modern times. Fort Rock also offers a gas station, grocery store, café, and a view of the past at the Homestead Village Museum.

Summer Lake, Oregon, located in a beautiful, lush valley below Winter Rim, is home to the Summer Lake, Oregon Wildlife Refuge, where wildlife abounds, and thousands of migrating birds come each year. Summer Lake also has a restaurant, motel, bed & breakfast inn, RV park, and a mineral hot spring.

Paisley, North Lake County's southern most community, Paisley, Oregon, has some the most perfect air currents in the country for hang gliding enthusiasts, and holds the Mosquito Festival every year. Paisley offers a café, gas station, grocery store, motel, boarding house and antique shop as well as Lake County's first and only Charter School, a school which continually ranks as one of Oregon's "Excellent" schools.

The old "Swigerts" house is now owned by a Doctor out of Seattle. Homesteaders came here shortly after the turn of the century with high hopes and a common dream of making good on 160 acre plots given them by the government. Hope literally crumbled as normal dry summers replaced the few wetter "good crop growing" years that had enticed them here. The Sand Dunes several miles east of the Swigerts place is now a great recreation area, and a reminder of the homestead years.

Some of the most intriguing history is only recently coming to light. Dr. Dennis Jenkins of the University of Oregon Archaeology Department has been giving local presentions exposing the wonders of the Fort Rock Basin's history which currently date back to around 14000 years, over 6000 years before Mt. Mazama, Crater Lake, erupted.