Upper Lake is a census-designated place in Lake County, California, situated at the northern end of Clear Lake, the largest natural freshwater lake lying entirely within the state. The 2020 census counted 1,095 residents, and the community sits at an elevation of about 1,345 feet, roughly eight miles north of the county seat of Lakeport. The area has a deep human history. It was inhabited for millennia by Pomo peoples, for whom the Clear Lake basin was a central gathering place. In the nineteenth century, the region experienced violence and displacement, including the Bloody Island massacre of 1850, marked today along Highway 20 near Upper Lake. The community also sits near Borax Lake, the site of the first borax mine in the United States, operated in the 1860s. Upper Lake's modern identity is tied to the land. To the north, the Mendocino National Forest rises into the Coast Range, with the Upper Lake Ranger District offering off-highway trails, campgrounds, and Forest Road M1 access toward the Snow Mountain Wilderness. To the south, Clear Lake provides fishing, boating, and recreation. The surrounding Upper Lake Valley is an established wine-growing area, recognized as a designated viticultural region. Public education is provided by the Upper Lake Unified School District, a K-12 system serving the community and northern Lake County. Daily services and county government are available in nearby Lakeport. Upper Lake offers a quiet, nature-centered setting at the meeting point of lake, valley, and national forest. For those drawn to the rural side of Northern California — vineyards, forest trails, and one of the state's great lakes — the community is a low-key gateway to all three.