In Metra's zone-based fare system, Lake Forest is in zone 4.

As of 2018, Lake Forest is the 70th busiest of Metra's 236 non-downtown stations, with an average of 747 weekday boardings.

The station has a ticket office which is open during the morning rush hour, Monday through Friday.

This station is sometimes referred to as East Lake Forest, to avoid confusion with the Lake Forest station on the Milwaukee District North Line.

The current building was built in 1900 by the Chicago and North Western Railway to a design by architects Frost & Granger.