Wallowa Lake gained popularity among gold miners and soon began attracting guests from other areas.

The park contained a restaurant, store, bowling alley, dance hall, outdoor movie theater, horse drawn carousel and cabins for those wishing to stay overnight.

Several more stores, lodges, restaurants, and rental cabins were built in the following years, turning the south end of the lake into a tourist community.

This association maintains a website, supports tourism in the area and works to solve issues across the lake community.

However, from October through March there are less than 40 year-round residences at the south end of the lake, and only a few lodging businesses remain open.