Goodbye Raystown Lake, So Long Beltzville Lake: Near The New York Border Is An Underrated Fishing Paradise

With over 2,300 lakes and 80,000 miles of rivers and streams, Pennsylvania has a lot of places to cast a line. And it's no secret that the fish are biting in the Keystone State. Raystown Lake gets about 1.5 million visitors each year, including lots of anglers drawn in by its reputation for trophy-sized striped bass, while many of the 500,000 yearly visitors to Beltzville State Park head there to catch the variety of game fish stocked in its lake waters. Luckily, Pennsylvania also has some lesser-known lakes that offer a more peaceful setting, and northern Pennsylvania's underrated Beechwood Lake is a prime example.

One potential reason Beechwood Lake gets overlooked is that it's on the smaller side, at least by Pennsylvania lake standards. It covers 67 acres, which is tiny compared to the 949-acre Beltzville Lake or 8,000-acre Raystown Lake, but there's still plenty of space to fish (especially since you don't have to share it with as many other visitors). Like those larger bodies of water, it's an artificial reservoir, created when the adjoining dam was built in 1963. It's managed by the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission, which is part of the reason why it's such a productive fishing spot.

Beechwood Lake is in Tioga County, about 2 miles south of the small community of Sabinsville or around 15 miles south of Pennsylvania's border with New York. This is a sparsely populated area of the state, with only about 40,000 residents across all of Tioga County. It's in the Pennsylvania Wilds, a region known for its outdoor recreation that boasts more than 2 million acres of public land. While this can mean a long drive to get there, it also makes the area an outdoor lover's paradise that's worth the trip for those seeking full nature immersion.

Similar to the nearby Hammond Lake outside the scenic borough of Tioga, you can catch a variety of fish in Beechwood Lake. The Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission stocks it with rainbow and golden trout multiple times a year, along with fingerling walleye. On top of this, the lake has a diverse population of other fish species, including largemouth and smallmouth bass, chain pickerel, yellow perch, and black crappies. You can also fish along the shore, though reviewers note the side near the road can sometimes get overgrown with weeds, so fishing from a boat is the most reliable option. Beechwood Lake is open to fishing year-round, but regulations for the season, the size, species, and number of fish you can keep vary. Check the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's website for the current regulations and permit information before you start your trip.

Since it's not part of a state park or other designated natural area, the infrastructure around Beechwood Lake is pretty bare-bones. There's one boat ramp along the lake's eastern shore, which you can get to by taking Beachwood Place from Ackley Road, but all that's around it is a small parking lot, with no restrooms or other facilities. You can use either unpowered boats or boats with electric motors on the lake, just keep the latter below wake speed (and make sure whatever boat you use is either registered or has a current launch permit). While fishing is the main draw of Beechwood Lake, the beautiful mountain scenery also makes it a peaceful spot to kayak or, as one Google reviewer writes, it's "a great place to relax and catch the sunset after a day of driving."

Beechwood Lake is relatively close to the Finger Lakes region of New York, about 60 miles south of Watkins Glen State Park, the most visited in the U.S. If you're coming from that direction, make sure to stop by the Tioga County (or Pennsylvania) Welcome Center, one of America's most unique and impressive rest stops, for beautiful views of the Tioga-Hammond Dams. In terms of cities, the closest ones are Buffalo, about a three-hour drive to the northwest, and Harrisburg, which is about the same length of drive south.

Since Beechwood Lake is fairly remote, most visitors will probably want to stay overnight in the area instead of trying to make it a day trip. If you want to camp, there are a couple of campgrounds in Gaines, about a 20-minute drive south. There are also a few hotels along Route 6 near Gaines. You'll find more options in Wellsboro, a gem of a small town with a charming downtown that's about a 40-minute drive from Beechwood Lake. For fishing supplies, the closest option is Smitty's Sports in Gaines, which one Google reviewer notes is a "good store to get what you didn't have or forgot at home for fishing."

As far as when to visit, Beechwood Lake is open 24/7 all year, including for ice fishing in the winter, so the best time to come really depends on what you want to catch. Trout fishing in Pennsylvania's lakes tends to be most productive from the season opening in April through June, when the water temperatures are still fairly cool and the fish haven't yet retreated to deeper water. To catch walleye, it's best to come in the spring or at night during the summer, while spring and fall are great times for bass fishing.