Raystown Lake

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Raystown Lake
Location	Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, United States
Primary sources	Raystown Branch Juniata River
Basin countries	United States
Max length	28 mi
Surface area	8,300 acres
Max depth	200 ft

Raystown Lake is a lake in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania. The largest lake that is entirely within Pennsylvania, it was created by the United States Army Corps of Engineers around 1913 by the damming of the Raystown Branch Juniata River which created a shallow lake in the river valley. Part of the town of Aitch is now under the level of the lake. The current 8,300 acre lake Raystown Lake was created in the 1970's when the Army Corps of Engineers built the current dam. The lake was created primarily to control floods, provide electricity and support recreational activities.

Boating and swimming and fishing are all popular activities. There are many campsites on the lake, as well as several boat launches, restaurants & trails. Firework displays are held at the Raystown Lake Resort on Memorial Day Weekend, July 3, and the Sunday night before Labor Day. The fireworks at the resort are watched from the lake but can also be seen from the Pennsylvania Route 994 bridge; the resort is just south of this bridge.

There are many recreational opportunities around Lake Raystown, though the optimistic boom in tourism never really occurred, due partly to the fact that much of the surrounding land is owned by the Army Corps of Engineers and is not available for residential development. Therefore, summer homes, etc., were built near the lake but not on the waterfront and never grew as popular as had been hoped. However, this makes the experience of boating on the lake very different from many other lakes; the hills on the shores of the winding lake are blanketed right down to the water by the trees.

[edit] Raystown Ray

Raystown Ray is the lake monster thought to live in Raystown Lake. Like all lake monsters, its existence is doubted by many, especially since Raystown Lake is a manmade lake.