Oregon

Buying Land in Lake County, Oregon

Lake County is Oregon's sparsely populated southeast-central high desert -- roughly three-quarters grazing land, centered on the county seat of Lakeview. Land here means EFU rangeland, a real (if underused) geothermal resource, a public gemstone-collecting area found nowhere else in the state, and, in places like Christmas Valley, decades-old small platted lots that need their own diligence.

Almost the Entire County Is Working Rangeland Under EFU

Case-by-case / verify locally

Land use in Lake County breaks down as roughly 75% grazing, 12% timber, 13% crop and irrigated hay, and about 1% urban, per the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. Cattle ranching, timber, and irrigated hay are the county's dominant enterprises, and most unincorporated land carries Exclusive Farm Use (EFU) or forest zoning built around that reality -- a residential-scale buyer should expect the standard EFU dwelling restrictions and farm/forest-compatibility review that come with it.

Christmas Valley: A 1961 Desert-Townsite Subdivision Worth Extra Diligence

Case-by-case / verify locally

The unincorporated community of Christmas Valley (population roughly 1,300) was platted around 1961 by developer M. Penn Phillips as a themed townsite -- Candy Lane, Mistletoe Road, and similar street names -- along with an airport, a golf course, a water system, and an artificial lake now called Baert Lake. Small lots from that era are commonly sold today. Confirm legal access, road maintenance status, well/septic feasibility, and actual zoning-compliant buildability directly with Lake County Planning before assuming a platted lot is simply build-ready.

A Real Geothermal Resource at Lakeview -- and an EFU-Permitted Use

Case-by-case / verify locally

Lakeview sits on a genuine geothermal resource: 'Old Perpetual,' a geyser created by an accidental early-20th-century water-well drilling, and a documented feasibility study on geothermal power generation at the former Lakeview Uranium Mill Site. Under Oregon's statewide EFU rules, mining and processing of geothermal resources is an explicitly permitted use in EFU zones (alongside aggregate and other mineral/subsurface resource extraction, subject to ORS 215.298) -- relevant to anyone evaluating geothermal potential on Lake County farm-zoned land, though a specific project still requires its own permitting review.

The Only Public Sunstone-Collecting Area in the Country

Generally favorable

The BLM's Lakeview District, near Plush in northern Lake County, established a free-use public collecting area for sunstone gemstones in 1972 -- roughly four square miles closed to new mining claims specifically to preserve public hobby-collecting access. Oregon designated the sunstone as its official state gemstone in 1989 because of its unusual clarity and color range. This is a genuine recreational amenity for land near the north county, though it's a BLM public-land program, not a right attached to adjacent private parcels.

A ranching county, not a subdivision market

Lake County is Oregon's high desert at its most literal -- sagebrush steppe, playas, and rimrock stretching between the Warner Mountains and the Fort Rock basin, with a county-wide population small enough that Lakeview, the county seat, functions as the only real service hub for hundreds of square miles. NRCS land-use figures put roughly three-quarters of the county in grazing land, with timber and irrigated hay/crop ground making up most of the rest and urban land accounting for only about 1%. For a land buyer, that means the default parcel here is EFU-zoned rangeland or forest ground governed by Oregon's statewide farm/forest dwelling rules, not a subdivision lot -- and water rights, grazing capacity, and access are usually the operative questions, more than zoning variance strategy.

Christmas Valley: real platted lots, real diligence needs

Christmas Valley is the clearest exception to that ranching-country picture, and it's worth understanding on its own terms. Developer M. Penn Phillips laid out the townsite around 1961 with holiday-themed streets and built out amenities including an airport, a golf course, a water system, rodeo grounds, and an artificial lake (originally Christmas Valley Lake, later renamed Baert Lake). Small, individually platted lots from that era circulate regularly in the raw-land market today. Because the subdivision predates modern Oregon land-use planning by more than a decade, a lot's road frontage, actual maintained-road access, well-drilling feasibility, and septic suitability should all be confirmed directly with Lake County Planning and the county's DEQ septic agent rather than assumed from the plat alone -- a legally platted lot from 1961 is not automatically a buildable one under today's standards.

Geothermal and mineral resources on EFU land

Lakeview's geothermal resource is unusually well documented for a county this size: 'Old Perpetual,' a geyser produced by an accidental early well-drilling that tapped the local hot-water table, has been a local landmark for decades, and a formal feasibility study has examined geothermal power generation potential at the former Lakeview Uranium Mill Site. Statewide, Oregon's EFU rules explicitly permit the mining and processing of geothermal resources as a farm-compatible use, alongside aggregate, mineral, and subsurface resource extraction under ORS 215.298. That framework is genuinely relevant to Lake County land evaluation, but it doesn't substitute for the county- and state-level permitting (including any DOGAMI review) a specific geothermal or mineral project would still require.

The Plush sunstone collection area

North of Lakeview near Plush, the BLM's Lakeview District manages a public, free-use sunstone-collecting area first established in 1972 -- about four square miles closed to new mining claims specifically to keep the area open for hobby rockhounding. Oregon named the sunstone its official state gemstone in 1989, citing its unusually clear color range. It's a genuine draw for recreational land buyers interested in the north county, though it's important to keep the distinction straight: this is a BLM public-land collecting program, separate from any private parcel's mineral rights, and it doesn't extend collecting privileges onto adjacent private ground.

Who to Call Before Buying Land in Lake County

Lake County is one of the 33 Oregon counties that administers on-site (septic) permitting locally under a contract with DEQ; confirm current staffing directly since Lake County's environmental health function is a small office housed within county government.

Planning & Zoning

Lake County Planning Department

Confirming zoning district, EFU permitted uses, and buildability for any Lake County parcel, including older Christmas Valley townsite lots.

Phone: (541) 947-6036Official website →

GIS / Parcel Records

Lake County Assessor / GIS

Parcel maps, tax lot boundaries, and assessed value lookups.

Phone: (541) 947-6000Official website →

Septic / Onsite Wastewater

Lake County Environmental Health (DEQ On-Site Agent)

Septic site evaluations and permitting; Lake County administers on-site wastewater permits as an Oregon DEQ agent.

Phone: (541) 947-6036Official website →

Recorder / Clerk / Land Records

Lake County Clerk

Recorded deeds, easements, and plat records for a specific parcel.

Phone: (541) 947-6003Official website →

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Sources

Lake County | Natural Resources Conservation Service — USDA NRCS (accessed 2026-09)
ORS 215.283 -- Uses permitted in exclusive farm use zones — Oregon Revised Statutes (accessed 2026-09)
Lake County, Oregon — Wikipedia (accessed 2026-09)
Lakeview, Oregon — Wikipedia (accessed 2026-09)
Christmas Valley, Oregon — Wikipedia (accessed 2026-09)
Lake County - Oregon Historical Mining Information — Oregon DOGAMI (accessed 2026-09)
Lake County Planning Department — Lake County, Oregon Government (accessed 2026-09)
Department of Environmental Quality: Onsite Septic Staff and County Agent Contact Information — Oregon DEQ (accessed 2026-09)

Last reviewed 2026-09