Lake Henry

About Lake Henry

A private lake in Lake Township near Hamlin, Lake Henry is the second-largest lake in Wayne County after Lake Wallenpaupack, and has stayed noticeably quieter than its larger neighbor despite sitting just 30 minutes east of Scranton. Reaching a maximum depth of around 30 feet, it's genuinely suited to boating, tubing, and waterskiing rather than just calm-water paddling — a real point of difference from several of the region's smaller, no-motor private lakes. Anglers fish it for largemouth and smallmouth bass, pickerel, perch, catfish, sunfish, bluegill, and crappie, and a small resort-style campground with a boat launch sits along the west shore for visitors without their own lakefront access.

Best Season

Summer

Community

Private

Popular For

Boating, Waterskiing & Fishing

Nearest Town

Hamlin, PA

Lake Origin

Man-Made Dam (1800s)

How It Came to Be

Lake Henry began as a much smaller body of water called Cobb Pond. In the 1800s, Henry Silkman dammed the pond to create the larger lake that now carries his name, and it went on to become a genuine regional attraction — passenger trains once ran dedicated excursions from Scranton out to the lake, and Lake Henry held Pennsylvania's state record for largest catfish caught.