The town itself consists of the Jacob Lake Inn which maintains motel rooms and cabins, a restaurant, lunch counter, gift shop, bakery, and general store; a gas station/garage; campground; and a visitors center run by the U.S. Forest Service.

Their ancestors had been early converts to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and had taken important roles in the settlement and exploration of southern Utah and northern Arizona.

Jacob Lake is also home to mule deer, coyotes, porcupines, bobcats, numerous bird species, horned lizards, and mountain lions.

However, Jacob Lake's situation and permanent water made it an important stopping place for travelers moving from Utah into Arizona.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Jacob Lake area and the rest of the Kaibab was the summer range of the "Bar Z outfit" or the Grand Canyon Cattle company.

US President Theodore Roosevelt frequented the area of Jacob Lake on his trips to the Kaibab to hunt mountain lion and visit the Grand Canyon.

It was also one of the haunts of the colorful Uncle Jim Owens, who reputedly rode with Jesse James and acted as a game warden on the Kaibab.

His real life adventures provided fodder for the western writer Zane Grey and he was featured in the beloved children's book Brighty of the Grand Canyon.