Welcome to Lake Forest ...

The city of Lake Forest is located in Orange County<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Lake Forest, you might get a feel for its founding by knowing that they incorporated December 20, 1991.

A typical abbreviation for Lake Forest: Lk. Forest

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Lake Forest has a population of 85,586 people<2> (see below for details).

Lake Forest is 670 feet [204 m] above sea level.<3>.

Time Zone: Lake Forest lies in the Pacific Time Zone (PST/PDT) and observes daylight saving time

The telephone area code for Lake Forest: (949)

The ZIP code for Lake Forest: 92630<4>

Going back to its beginning, The community of Lake Forest was originally named El Toro. For more information about the names of Lake Forest, see The Names of Lake Forest on our Genealogy Page.

Websites for Lake Forest ...

Official Website:   www.ci.lake-forest.ca.us/

Junior League:   www.jlocc.org/

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Lake Forest had an population of 85,586 people. This is an increase of 10.77% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 45.79% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Lake Forest had a population of 77,264 people. This makes Lake Forest the county's 13th most populous community.

The population of Lake Forest represents 0.21% of the total population of California (which has 37,253,956 people), making it the state's 99th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 77,264 people, the population of Lake Forest increased 31.61% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 58,707 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Lake Forest.

Communities Also Named Lake Forest ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are two California communities named Lake Forest: This one is located in Orange County and the other is located in Placer County.

Beyond California, there are 27 communities that are also named Lake Forest - they are located in Alabama (2), Florida (3), Georgia (4), Illinois, Louisiana (2), Manitoba, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina (2), South Carolina (2), Tennessee, Texas (2), Virginia and Wisconsin.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Lake Forest.

Communities near Lake Forest ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Lake Forest.

• Anaheim
  (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anaheim
  • Anaheim is located in Orange County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 353,676 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Anaheim <5>
• Santa Ana
  (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santa Ana
  • Santa Ana is located in Orange County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 331,301 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Santa Ana <5>
• Irvine
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irvine
  • Irvine is located in Orange County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 283,700 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Irvine <5>
• Huntington Beach
  (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huntington Beach
  • Huntington Beach is located in Orange County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 198,246 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Huntington Beach <5>
• Garden Grove
  (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Grove
  • Garden Grove is located in Orange County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 171,366 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Garden Grove <5>
• Corona
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corona
  • Corona is located in Riverside County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 170,996 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Corona <5>
• Orange
  (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orange
  • Orange is located in Orange County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 138,192 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Orange <5>
• Costa Mesa
  (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Costa Mesa
  • Costa Mesa is located in Orange County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 112,366 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Costa Mesa <5>
• Westminster
  (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westminster
  • Westminster is located in Orange County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 89,740 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Westminster <5>
• Newport Beach
  (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newport Beach
  • Newport Beach is located in Orange County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 86,834 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Newport Beach <5>

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Lake Forest. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Lake Forest.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Lake Forest. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Lake Forest.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Lake Forest. See our Newspapers Page for Lake Forest.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Lake Forest ...

Looking for more information about Lake Forest? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Lake Forest, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Lake Forest.

Off-the-Road Links ...

The official website for Lake Forest: www.ci.lake-forest.ca.us/

The official website for Orange County: www.oc.ca.gov/

The official website for State of California: https://www.ca.gov/