LA PINE OREGON
La Pine is the gateway to the Newberry National Volcanic Monument and Central Oregon's most beautiful geological showcase. Representing what was once the largest unincorporated area of Deschutes County—meaning they rely on Deschutes County to provide their emergency services and government— La Pine's population is comprised of retirees and young working families with a median age of 44.7, most of whom commute to Bend for work. The residents are proud of their rural lifestyle and are concerned about maintaining that way of life. La Pine became the newest city in Oregon as of November 2006.

The housing boom in La Pine has been particularly driven by lower prices for real estate with an average home price of $188,000 (as of 8/2006). New residents, and even transplant residents from the neighboring cities of Bend, Redmond and Sisters, have been fleeing to La Pine for not only the lower cost of living and the ability to get more for your money, but also for the “front door” access to the area’s mountains, lakes, rivers, hiking trails, ATV and off road vehicle trails, and the National Newberry Volcanic Monument. La Pine offers a small home town feel and residents alike take pride in their small town way of life.

From the downtown core area, it covers a distance of approximately ten miles to the north and six miles to the south along Highway 97. La Pine is located 15 miles south of Sunriver, 31 miles south of Bend, 104 miles north of Klamath Falls and 107 miles east of Eugene. It's commercial and retail business district stretches along U.S. Hwy 97 in the core area, and also at the northern end called "Wickiup Junction".

Fun Facts -
1) La Pine is the state’s largest unincorporated area
2) At 4,300 feet, La Pine has the highest elevation of any community within the Central Oregon region.
3) La Pine is home to the world’s largest Ponderosa Pine, around which a State Park has been established.  The diameter of its trunk is 8.6 ft. and it is estimated to be 500 years old.

La Pine's History
La Pine is a rural oriented, unincorporated community first discovered by white men in 1852 when engineers were seeking a route over the Willamette Pass through the La Pine Basin. Two major wagon train trails followed the Little Deschutes River upstream to the vicinity of Crescent in 1850 and 1854 heading west across the Cascade Mountains.
For about 10 years in the late 1800's, Chief Paulina and his renegade band for the Walapi Tribe of the Snake Indians roamed the area, terrorizing Central Oregon with attacks on forts and garrisons as well as ranches and homesteads. The band got obsidian from Newberry Crater to use for arrowheads and spear points. Although Paulina was regarded as a raider and a killer by both whites and Indians, there are more Oregon landmarks named after him than any other individual: Paulina Peak, Paulina Falls, Paulina Prairie, Paulina Lake, and the community of Paulina, southeast of Prineville.

Fur trader Finian McDonald camped near Rosland (La Pine's predecessor) in 1825 and explorer Peter Skene Ogden discovered East Lake northeast of La Pine in 1826. The John C. Fremont party visited the La Pine basin in 1848.

The town of La Pine was founded around 1900. B. J. Pengra had homesteaded the area in 1870 and surveyed the first north/south wagon road through the La Pine basin, establishing Pengra Huntington Road. The Huntington in the road name was for J.W. Perit Huntington, who was the Oregon Superintendent of Indian Affairs (a man who had used the route when it was a mere footpath).
In the early days, La Pine was considered a "pretty wild place" with loggers, sheepherders and cowboys making up a good part of the population. they lived hard lives in a hard climate lured by the promise of land that was "almost free", good hunting and good fishing. In 1910, town lots were selling for $50 each and one of the recreational activities was a horseback ride to the prairies around the town where horsement would race the herds of antelope. La Pine, in those days, was touted as a place where there was plenty of timber and pulp wood just waiting to be cut; an ideal location for summer resorts; plenty of clay for making tile and pottery and "dirt with no rock in it".

By 1917, La Pine had a bank, a saloon, a livery stable, a mercantile store, a grocery store, a blacksmith, a school, a hardware store, a filling station and a newspaper. In the early days, mail for La Pine was carried by horseback from Prineville, with the riders breaking trail through heavy snows in the winter.

Present day U.S. Hwy 97 began as an Indian trail from Klamath Falls to the Columbia River. The road for freight wagons carrying merchandise from Bend to Silver Lake through La Pine was uphill, rocky and rugged in the summer and often blocked with snow in the winter. Tollgates were tried on the road in the early 1920's but were abandoned in 1925 because they were considered harmful to the tourist business. The toll charges included 12.5 cents for each sheep or hog, 50 cents for each horse, mule or donkey and $2 for 2 wheeled carts. No tolls were charged for footmen or for anyone traveling to a funeral, election or to church.

Currently the main economy is fueled by services to South Deschutes County, North Klamath County and North Lake County, as well as tourism. There is a growing Industrial Park that is increasingly developing to provide family wage jobs by small industrial businesses.

La Pine education system is currently part of the Bend-La Pine School District. Central Oregon Communtiy College also has a branch facility in the community.

La Pine Service Area
With the eighties, came new moods about where people want to live and how they want to place their careers and lives, decisions revolved around the now-famous term "quality of life". Central Oregon is an oasis of unparalleled beauty and opportunity.

Development
The commercial area of La Pine has several sizeable developments underway or recently completed including a new multi-million dollar senior/assisted living facility, elementary school, and several new commercial/retail businesses.

Community leaders in the La Pine area have also been working diligently on development of “municipal” services including a community water and sewer system. As a result, the area’s new industrial park and surrounding areas have water provided by a new well, distribution system and 250,000 gallon storage reservoir managed by La Pine Water District. Sewer services are also available – provided by the La Pine Sewer District.

These efforts have been well timed with the development of the area’s business “drawing card” with the La Pine Industrial Park. This newly established, fully serviced park offers flat and “rock-less” buildable lots from ¼ acre to 40 + acres at the incredibly low price of $12,500 per acre or 1,250 per acre per year for lease. The park also has the advantage of easy access to both the Burlington Northern – Santa Fe Railroad mainline as well as US Hwy 97, which connects with I-5 to the south in California; I-84 in northern Oregon; and I-90 in central Washington.

Transportaion
U.S. Hwys 97, 31, 58, 20 and 22. Hwy 58 accesses Interstate 5 and Hwy 97 and 20 join Interstate 84. Any Oregon metro destination can be reached within 3 and a half hours.

La Pine is serviced by 9 motor freight companies. La Pine has access to 6 airports within a 205 mile radius, one of which is a major airport in Eugene. Redmond airport, the region's major airport, is only 45 miles north of La Pine. There are smaller airports in Sunriver, Bend, Prineville, Lakeview, Klamath Falls, Chiloquin and other areas.

Train (Burlington Northern) and bus (Greyhound) services are offered on a daily basis. amtrak makes daily stops in chemult, which is 40 miles south of La Pine. There is limited bus service from the Amtrak station.

Climate
The geographical climate is predominately high desert. The most common weather pattern consists of mostly, sunny days, low humidity and cool nights. Rain falls between November and February, mostly in the form of snow. Brief thunderstorms usually provide light summer rain. Yearly snowfall averages about 40 to 50 inches. Summer time average high temperature is about 80 degrees with not more than 15 days above 90 degrees. About half the nights are freezing or lower. Because of the summer frost potential, the average growing season is about 90 days.

However, every community in Central Oregon has its own variations of temperature and precipitation due to elevation and proximity of the mountains. average precipitation for the 3 county area is 13.88 inches.

Labor Force

Deschutes County	43,690
Lake County	4,290
Klamath County	25,560

Population
La Pine is unincorporated; therefore, no exact figures are available. La Pine's zip code, 97739, has approximately 11,500 people. The greater La Pine area includes somewhere between 15,000 and 17,000 people. Overall, nearly 40% of Deschutes County residents live in unincorporated areas throughout the county, or about 42,400 residents.

Sales Tax
Oregon has no sales tax.

Property Tax
$13.70 per $1000 assessed value of residential dwelling (1999). This includes all bonds, levies, schools, 911, parks, fire, sheriff, library and county taxes.

Elevation
La Pine is at 4300 feet, Paulina Peak is at 7984 feet, Bend is at 3623 feet.

Law Enforcement
Deschutes County Sheriff, Oregon State Police

Department of Motor Vehicles
La Pine does not have a DMV office , but we are working on it. the nearest office is located 30 miles north in Bend, 541-388-6322. The Chamber of Commerce office does have Oregon Driver Manuals.

Airport
La Pine does not currently have an airport. The nearest major airport is located in Redmond, only 45 miles north of La Pine. Redmond aiprort offers non-stop service to major metropolitan areas of Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, Denver, Seattle and Portland.

Fishing/Hunting Fees
Fishing - 1day - $12.00, 2 day - $22.50, 3 day - $33.00, one week - $43.75, Annual Resident - $24.75, annual Non-Resident - $61.50, Combination Hunting/Fishing Resident - $43.75,
Hunting - Resident - $22.50, Non-Resident - $58.50, Tags are additional, depending on type of game. Many hunts are by drawing only, see an Oregon Big Game Regulation Manual for more information or visit the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife's website.

Chamber of Commerce
La Pine is represented by the La Pine Chamber of Commerce. RE/MAX Sunset Realty is a proud member. Visit the La Pine chamber site to view all members and their business directory.

Newspapers
La Pine's local paper, The Frontier Advertiser, is published weekly and distributed on Tuesdays, they can be contacted at 541-536-2434. The Newberry Eagle distributed monthly can be contacted at 541-536-3972. The Bulletin, published in Bend, is our daily paper; they can be contacted at 541-382-1811. Cascade Business News is a business publication; they can be contacted at 541-388-5665. The Source, publishes a weekly newspaper that is geared for those who appreciate a more liberal point of view, and all of Central Oregon's entertainment like night clubs, art gallery showings, movies, dining, and more. They can be contacted at 541-383-0800.

La Pine Public Library
New 8,000 square foot building November 2000, 541-536-0515

La Pine Parks & Recreation District
Youth, Adult & Community Programs, Community Building & Grounds, 541-536-4055

Churches
First Conservative Baptist Church of La Pine, (541) 536-1215 fcbc@uci.net
Whispering Pines Baptist Church, 541- 536-3872

Veterinary Hospital
La Pine Animal Hospital and Office, Gordon Pickering, DVM & Julee Pickering, DVM, 541-536-2001

Pharmacies
La Pine Drug/Hometown Drug, 541-536-2008
Bi-Mart, 541-536-5052
Drug Mart Pharmacy, 541-536-1111

Medical Facilities
Nearest Major Hospital: St. Charles Medical Center of Bend, 541-382-4321
The Family Health Clinic of La Pine, Inc., 541-536-8012
La Pine Community Clinic, 541-536-3435
La Pine Physical Therapy, 541-536-6122
La Pine Vision Clinic, 541-536-2014

Restaurant & Dining Guide
Here are a few of our favorite dining spots in La Pine.
>> Hunan's - The best chinese food in Central Oregon. They also have 2 other locations in Central Oregon, Madras and Redmond.
>> Gordy's Truck Stop - Excellent greasy spoon truck stop faire
>> Ponderosa Pizza - Pizza
>> El Pescador - Mexican food at its best. They are also located in Sunriver at the Village Mall.