Metro Detroit Oakland County Village
Lake Orion
A lake resort village with islands, a dragon legend and two rail-trails at its doorstep
- People (2025 estimate)
- 38,882
- Land area
- 33.2 sq mi · 85.9 km²
- From downtown
- 31.4 miles · 50 km · north
- Incorporated
- 1859
Nothing on our calendar here this week yet.
01 / Why it matters
Why Lake Orion matters
The Village of Lake Orion and the Orion Township around it make up what everyone around here just calls Lake Orion. It started out as Canandaigua, became Orion in 1835 and has been Lake Orion since 1929. The shared motto: Where living is a vacation.
Once the railroad arrived in 1872, Lake Orion became one of southeast Michigan's favorite resorts. On Park Island, Detroiters found an amusement park, a dance hall, a wooden roller coaster and a beach, until the park closed in 1955. Thanks to a 19th-century kids' prank, the lake supposedly has a dragon, which is why the high school teams are still the Dragons.
Today the historic downtown around Broadway and Flint Street is full of shops, restaurants and music spots; the Paint Creek Trail ends here and the Polly Ann Trail heads north. The township is also home to GM's Orion Assembly, building cars since 1983; under a 2025 announcement, gas-powered Silverado and Sierra pickups and the Cadillac Escalade are slated to be built here starting in 2027.
02 / Known for
What Lake Orion is known for
The Park Island amusement park on the lake, open until 1955
The legend of the Lake Orion dragon, which gave the high school teams their name
From 1909, mail was delivered by boat to more than 300 cottages on the lake and its islands
Amelia Earhart's 1929 visit, when she flew an experimental glider here at William E. Scripps's invitation
GM's Orion Assembly plant, open since 1983, where the Chevrolet Bolt EV was built from 2017 to 2023
03 / What’s on
What’s on in Lake Orion
Nothing on our calendar in Lake Orion right now. Try the neighbors:
04 / Places
6 places on our site in Lake Orion
05 / What to do
If you’re in Lake Orion
Downtown Lake Orion
A historic district of 280 properties, on the National Register since 2006, with shops, restaurants and live music a short walk from the lake.
Official site ↗Paint Creek Trail
Michigan's first non-motorized rail-trail, running 8.9 miles from Lake Orion to Rochester along Paint Creek.
Official site ↗Polly Ann Trail
Built on the old Pontiac, Oxford & Northern rail line; its Oakland County stretch runs 14.2 miles from Orion Township through Oxford and Leonard to the county line.
Official site ↗Bald Mountain Recreation Area
About 4,600 acres of state parkland with some of southeast Michigan's steepest hills, 15 miles of marked hiking trails, lakes and trout streams.
Official site ↗
06 / History
Lake Orion through the years
- 1825
Jesse Decker and his wife, Mary, arrive from New York State; for a while the place is known as Decker's Settlement.
- 1835
Canandaigua becomes Orion, and Orion Township is organized with Decker as its first supervisor, at $2 a year.
- 1859
Orion incorporates as a village; after an 1862 fire the charter is repealed, and it reincorporates in 1869.
- 1874
C. K. Carpenter buys Park Island and builds a 100-foot dance hall, kicking off the amusement park era.
- 1929
Orion officially becomes Lake Orion, and Amelia Earhart tests an experimental glider on William E. Scripps's estate.
- 1983
Production starts at GM's Orion Assembly plant on December 1.
08 / People
Famous names from here
- William Edmund Scripps pioneer aviator and publisher of The Detroit News, who built his Wildwood Farms estate in Lake Orion from 1916 and invited Amelia Earhart here
- Andrew J. Feustel NASA astronaut who grew up in Lake Orion and graduated from Lake Orion High School in 1983
Sources
Population and area are Census Bureau figures (Orion charter township). The figures cover all of Orion Township.
- 2020 Census, Michigan (PL 94-171)
- Census Bureau population estimates: cities and towns
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Orion_Historic_District
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Orion,_Michigan
- lakeorionschools.org/community/community-information
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Edmund_Scripps
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_Assembly
- downtownlakeorion.org
- paintcreektrail.org
- pollyanntrail.org
- michigan.gov/recsearch/parks/baldmtn
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_J._Feustel
- lakeorion.org
Change since 2020, per the Census Bureau estimate: +1.8 percent.
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