The lake was managed as part of that Cascade Reserve until 1908, when the area was transferred to the Crater National Forest.

The United States Forest Service issued the first residential use permit to the Elden cabin near Lake of the Woods in 1916.

In 1923, the road into the lake area was improved, and a second campground was built to accommodate the increasing number of recreational visitors.

Civilian Conservation Corps crews built an office, residences, and a number of work buildings at the ranger station.

All of the buildings except for the ranger station's barn were constructed in the National Park Service rustic architectural style.

In 1958, Oregon Route 140 was completed, providing residents of Klamath Falls and Medford with easy access to the lake.

[3][5][6][7] Lake of the Woods is located near the crest the Cascade Range in southern Oregon, 7 miles (11 km) southeast of Mount McLoughlin.

During the drier summer and fall months, lake water is lost only through groundwater seepage and evaporation.

[3][8][10][11] The watershed that drains into Lake of the Woods spans 26 square miles (67 km2) and is covered by a mixed conifer forest that receives an average of 30–44 inches (760–1,120 mm) of precipitation annually.

While logging and reforestation have affected forest composition, approximately 75 percent of the trees in the watershed are between 80 and 800 years old.

[14] In 2002, Portland State University reported the findings of volunteer monitors in their Lake Watch program.

While these studies produced some cautionary findings, taken overall, they indicate that the Lake of the Woods ecosystem is handling the stress of human use relatively well.

[12] While the water quality in Lake of the Woods has not been significantly degraded by heavy recreational use, additional development could do so.

To prevent this, the Forest Service began taking proactive steps to preserve the lake's water quality in the mid-1990s.

The Forest Service also encourages cabin owners to install new septic systems and actively promotes the use of low-phosphate detergents in the Lake of the Woods community.

Based on those interviews, the researchers concluded that rainbow trout, tui chub, and possibly one or more sucker species may have been native to the lake.

However, a University of Michigan study done for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife concluded that there were no sucker species native to the lake.

In 1922, the Oregon State Game Commission (a predecessor to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife) stocked the lake with largemouth bass, black crappie, bluegill, yellow perch, warmouth, pumpkinseed sunfish, brown bullheads, carp, and perhaps suckers.

The yellow perch quickly became the lake's dominant species, out-competing the trout for both food and habitat.

From the Forest Service campgrounds along the lake shore, birdwatchers can see grebes, ducks, geese, and occasionally common loons.

Some of the small mammals include porcupines, western spotted skunks, striped skunks, martens, minks, long-tailed weasels, snowshoe hares, yellow-bellied marmots, golden-mantled ground squirrels, Douglas squirrels, dusky-footed woodrats, bushy-tailed woodrats, creeping voles, deer mice, and northern pocket gophers.

[15] Each year in June, the Winema National Forest hosts a week-long summer resource management program for sixty high school students at Lake of the Woods.

At the end of the week, the students develop and present a land management plan to demonstrate what they learned.

[2][10][11][17] During the summer, the lake is a popular place for swimming, fishing, canoeing, boating, and water skiing.

The nearby Great Meadows area is now a very popular winter recreation site, especially for snowmobile riders and cross-country skiers.

[11] Lake of the Woods is located near the crest of the Cascade Mountains in western Klamath County, Oregon.