Barlow County
Barlow County is the primary setting of the Melisende Dulac Series.
Details
Barlow is a fictional county in the high desert region of central Oregon. The county seat is Samuelton, Oregon. Much of the county is made up of high desert rangeland and irrigated farms. The west central portion of the county is dominated by Lost Brother Butte, a dormant volcanic mountain which has on its slopes the Brother Drop Ski Resort.
Also in the high county are the villages of Crestview and Munro.
The south county is dominated by Shatter Hill. The best barbecue in the valley can be had at the Nethers Roadhouse in Condon Valley at the eastern end of Shatter Hill.
The north county is primarily desert with irrigated farm and ranch land. A few tiny hamlets, including Handbrake, dot the wide, gently undulating region.
On the northwest slopes of Lost Brother Butte is Dryer Lake, home to the Dryer Lake Resort, a developed community featuring a golf course, high-end shopping village, and luxury homes and cottages.
The Palmer River flows east from Lost Brother Butte through the Palmer River Valley, snaking through Wilton and Samuelton.
Demographics
Barlow County has fewer than twenty-thousand residents, more than half in Samuelton. The rest are scattered throughout the high desert and foothills rising up to Lost Brother Butte.
“We have a Walmart but no Target. A McDonald’s, but no Burger King—and somehow two Taco Bells. While timber, ranching, and farming still make up an important part of the local economy, most of the money these days is from tourism—hikers, bikers, and campers, hunters and fishermen, skiers and golfers.”
—Melisende Dulac