Raystown Lake

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Raystown Lake
Raystown Lake Dam
Raystown Lake Show map of Pennsylvania Raystown Lake Show map of the United States
Location	Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, United States
Coordinates	40°26′01″N 78°00′24″W / 40.43361°N 78.00667°W / 40.43361; -78.00667
Primary inflows	Raystown Branch Juniata River
Basin countries	United States
Max. length	32 mi (51 km)
Surface area	8,300 acres (33.6 km2)
Max. depth	200 ft (61.0 m)

Raystown Lake is a reservoir in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania. It is the largest lake that is entirely within Pennsylvania. The original lake was built by the Simpson family of Huntingdon as a hydroelectric project. The current 8,300-acre (34 km²) Raystown Lake was completed in 1973 by the Army Corps of Engineers. Raystown is around 200 feet (61 m) deep in the deepest area near the dam. The lake was created primarily to control floods, provide electricity, and support recreational activities. Allegheny Electric Cooperative operates the Raystown Hydroelectric Project and William F. Matson Generating Station at the Raystown Dam,a 21 MW, two-unit hydroelectric project.^[1]

Raystown Lake has many recreational activities. Some of the most popular activities are boating, swimming, mountain biking, scuba diving, fishing, and camping. Raystown Lake offers several boat launches as well as two larger marinas that have restaurants and often hold special events. There is also an abundance of campsites surrounding the lake. The lake also offers disk golf, a waterpark, fishing guides, and hiking 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.

Much of the land surrounding the lake is owned by the Army Corps of Engineers and is not available for residential development; because of this summer homes were built near the lake rather than on the waterfront, and most of the lake remains undeveloped. 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. Raystown has a fishery including largemouth bass, striped bass, smallmouth bass, muskellunge, walleye, pickerel, perch, calico bass, lake trout, rainbow trout, brook trout, brown trout, bluegill, catfish, carp, white bass, rock bass, salmon and shad.

In 2015, a Texas-based energy company proposed building a large resort on the mountain above and marina with luxury amenities on the shore. Several Residents joined in protest and the Proposal didn't meet the criteria required by the USACE for ecological and safety reasons.^{[citation needed][disputed – discuss]}