SOUTH COAST • OREGON COAST CITY GUIDE
Lakeside sits beside the Tenmile Lakes just inland from the Pacific, where freshwater, dunes and forest create one of the South Coast’s most recreation-focused small communities.
HISTORY & CHARACTER
The Tenmile Lakes area is part of the ancestral homeland of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw peoples. Non-Native settlement expanded in the late 1800s, when travel around the lakes often depended on rowboats, mail boats and rough overland routes.
The Lakeside townsite developed in the early 1900s and incorporated in 1924. Logging railroads, fishing and lake transportation became part of daily life, and schoolchildren once reached class by boat from remote shorelines.
Lakeside also gained an unusual reputation in the 1930s and 1940s as a quiet getaway visited by Hollywood figures. The city later disincorporated during World War II and formally became a city again in the 1970s.
DID YOU KNOW?
Local historical records list visitors such as Bob Hope, Bing Crosby and other entertainers among people who came to Lakeside during its 1930s and 1940s resort era — a surprisingly glamorous chapter for a tiny lake town.
LANDMARKS • SCENERY • EXPERIENCES
Lakeside is built around water. The best experiences involve the lakes, nearby dunes and forest rather than a conventional downtown sightseeing list.
01
Fish, paddle or boat on a large freshwater lake with miles of wooded shoreline, coves and channels around the Lakeside community.
02
Explore quieter arms and inlets where waterfowl, osprey and forested shorelines give the lake a more secluded feel.
03
West of town, towering dunes and sandy trails create access to the southern portion of the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area.
04
Lakeside sits only a few miles inland, making it easy to combine lake recreation with Elliott State Forest country and Pacific beaches.
Coastal atmosphere for the Lakeside guide. Photo via Pexels.
North Tenmile Lake near Lakeside, Oregon. Photo by Finetooth via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0).
NATURE & WILDLIFE
Bald eagles and osprey are often seen over the Tenmile Lakes, along with ducks, geese, grebes and other waterbirds. The lakes support bass, trout, perch and crappie. Black-tailed deer and Roosevelt elk use surrounding forest and dune-edge habitat, while beavers and river otters occur around quieter waterways.
SEASONAL WEATHER
Typical daytime high / overnight low ranges. Coastal weather can change quickly, so treat these as seasonal guideposts rather than a forecast.
Highs about 56–64°F • lows 41–47°F
Highs about 66–72°F • lows 50–54°F
Highs about 59–68°F • lows 45–52°F
Highs about 51–56°F • lows 39–44°F
SOUTH COAST ON SCREEN
Coastal scenes for the independent drama Hard Luck were filmed in Lakeside as well as Brookings and Gold Beach. The town’s lake country offered a different visual character from the sea stacks and open beaches farther south.
Lakeside is best known for North Tenmile and Tenmile lakes, popular for fishing, paddling and relaxed days on the water.
Photo: Finetooth, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
GOOD TO KNOW
Use public launches, docks and parks rather than private driveways or waterfront property when accessing the lakes.
Wind can build quickly on open water. Wear personal flotation devices and check weather before crossing large sections of the lake.
Motorized and non-motorized areas are clearly designated. Check current maps before leaving established trailheads.
LOCAL HISTORY • CULTURE • STRANGE & TRUE STORIES
Fresh stories connected to Lakeside appear here automatically when they are tagged Lakeside-blog.
THE COAST KEEPS GOING
Keep traveling town by town for more local history, viewpoints, beaches, wildlife and stories from communities up and down the coast.
Local history, unusual facts, community stories, events and useful reads connected to this city.
Before Lakeside became a city, Tenmile Lakes shaped travel, fishing, logging and daily life. Discover how this Oregon lake town took form.
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