Paddling Tobyhanna Lake

Saturday, November 7, 2020

Hi Blog! 

It's hard to believe that just one week ago, we were walking around in a snowstorm. Today, temperatures were expected to reach 70 degrees! Today just might be the last chance we get this year to take the kayaks out for a spin around Tobyhanna Lake.

Tobyhanna Lake covers 170 acres with almost four miles of shoreline. We started our paddle counter-clockwise. By the time we started around 11:00 a.m., the picnic area and fishing pier were already starting to fill up with visitors.

Tobyhanna State Park opened to the public in 1949, complete with parking areas, swimming beach, boat rental and boat launching site, water supply, and sanitary facilities. The camping area was added in 1959. The boat rental office is one of the original CCC facilities in the park.

When our daughter and her puppies come to visit, this bench is one of their favorite spots.

The beach is a favorite spot in the summer.

Tobyhanna Lake is located in the heart of the Pocono Glaciated Plateau. The landscape in this area is broad, flat, swampy areas intermixed with low hills covered with a northern hardwood forest. Common tree species are beech, birch, and maple. However, the shallow soil makes it difficult for the trees to grow too large. When they get too heavy, they fall over.

We were surprised to learn that the maximum depth of the lake is only 9 feet. The few fishing boats that came out today, spent most of their time in the deeper water which allowed us to poke up and down along the shore line.

As we rounded a small peninsula, we noticed a beaver had been hard at work gathering small trees and shoring up their lodge.

Tobyhanna Creek feeds the lake. The road to the campground crosses the creek over a series of shallow tunnels.

We tried to make it under the roadway, but the water became too shallow to paddle.

There has been in lake in this area since the late 1800s. The Mountain Ice Company cut ice from the lake during the winter and stored it in large barn-like structures. During the rest of the year, the ice was added to railroad boxcars hauling fresh produce and meats destined for East Coast cities.

We stopped for lunch at the campground. The facilities are closed for the season, so we pretty much had the place to ourselves. We did see a couple bike riders exploring the campground roads, but no other boaters came by.

Hiding in the alder and willow in the photo below is Pole Bridge Run. The fresh water feeding into the lake creates large rafts of water lily. The old tree stumps made for some fun paddling.

The little coves just beg to be explored. 

Fall has pretty much fallen in our area. However, if you look closely, you can still find traces of color.

At the far end of the lake, we found a second beaver lodge which was huge -- perhaps 6 feet high!

While the beaver family stayed nestled in their lodge, we did meet a few interesting aliens in the water.

At the outlet of the lake, Tobyhanna Creek continues on its way down the spillway in the dam.

We finished our paddle by dodging the fisherman returning to the boat launch. If we do get another chance to take the kayaks out, next time we'll bring our fishing rods.