The 52 Best Swimming Holes in Pennsylvania

Beltzville State Park's 525-foot sand beach on Beltzville Lake is one of the largest official swim beaches in the Pennsylvania state park system, and it swims like it: roped-off boundaries, K-9 water-rescue teams patrolling weekends in season, and open reservoir water off a proper sand shoreline. If you want a big, staffed lake swimming hole within easy reach of Lehighton, this is it.

The catch is popularity. On hot holiday weekends the beach hits visitor capacity and the parking lot closes to new arrivals, sometimes by mid-morning, with over 900 cars reported on one July 4th. Go early, go on a weekday if you can, and keep in mind this is open reservoir water where a swimmer going beyond his depth needed an active rescue in 2025.

Black Moshannon Lake is not your typical clear mountain water. The 250-acre lake is naturally stained tea-brown by tannins draining out of the surrounding sphagnum bog, so the water looks dark but it is clean, and one visitor describes swimming among lily pads in the black water. It makes for one of the more distinctive swimming holes in central Pennsylvania.

The park runs an ADA-accessible sand beach from mid-May through mid-September, with a playground right at the sand, so it works well as a casual family swim spot. Just know there has been no lifeguard since 2008, so you swim at your own risk and kids need close supervision.

Parker Dam State Park is a CCC-built park from the 1930s centered on little 20-acre Parker Lake, surrounded by Moshannon State Forest next to the Quehanna Wilderness. Its sand beach is a designated, developed swimming hole with one very family-friendly stat: the maximum water depth is just 5 feet at the buoy line, so this is shallow, calm lake swimming from end to end.

One thing to know going in: lifeguards have not been stationed at the beach since 2008, so swimming is at your own risk and parents should keep close watch. The beach runs late May through mid-September, 8 a.m. until sunset, with a rental concession on site if you want to get out on the water.

Raymond B. Winter State Park centers on Halfway Lake, a small spring fed lake behind a hand laid sandstone dam built by the Civilian Conservation Corps, deep in the Bald Eagle State Forest about 18 miles west of Lewisburg. The designated beach makes it a proper swimming hole, with 300 feet of white sand and a shallow, gradual entry.

Fair warning on the water itself: it is spring fed and stays cold, reported around 50 degrees, which is bracing even in midsummer. There are no lifeguards, so it is swim at your own risk, but the gentle entry and the children's play area by the beach keep it friendly for families who stay attentive.

Shades Beach Park is Harborcreek Township's neighborhood swimming hole on Lake Erie, just east of the city of Erie. The water near shore stays shallow, which the local tourism board says makes for easy wading with small children, so think casual wade-and-splash rather than deep-water swimming.

The beach sits below a wooded park with picnic pavilions, trails, and play areas, and the view west toward Erie makes it a natural sunset spot. There are no lifeguards or swim buoys, and the boat launch is right nearby, so keep an eye on anyone in the water.

Smithfield Beach is one of only three designated swim beaches in the whole Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, a grassy, sandy stretch of Delaware River shoreline backed by woods and mountain slopes about 7 miles north of the town of Delaware Water Gap. First-hand accounts describe the surface as calm and the entry as broad and gentle, which makes it a popular river swimming hole for waders and casual swimmers.

Do not let the calm surface fool you. The Park Service warns that depth here varies wildly and unexpectedly, with sharp drop-offs and swift currents hiding beyond the shallows, and there are no lifeguards. Stay inside the marked swim area, keep kids in the shallows under a close eye, and this is a lovely place to swim on a summer weekday, when the crowds thin out considerably.

Ives Run is the developed Army Corps recreation area on Hammond Lake, part of the Tioga-Hammond Lakes system in Pennsylvania's Endless Mountains, about 12 miles north of Wellsboro. The swimming beach here is a bit unusual: a grass beach with a concrete-bottom swim area, which means a firm, even entry instead of the mucky lake bottom you might expect from a reservoir.

The Corps pitches the beach as a great place for kids of any age, and loaner life jackets are available at the beach and visitor center. Just know there are no lifeguards, so it is swim-at-your-own-risk, and the beach runs seasonally from Memorial Day through Labor Day. If you want a lake to swim in with a full campground and boat ramp attached, this checks all the boxes.

Gifford Pinchot State Park wraps around 340-acre Pinchot Lake in the rolling York County countryside, and campers here get a swimming hole of their own: a designated swim beach at the campground, separate from the park's big, sandy, ADA-accessible beach in the Quaker Race Day Use Area. Both are gentle, reservoir-edge sand beaches with easy entry, the kind of setup that works well for families camping lakeside.

The honest caveat is water quality. There are no lifeguards, and Pinchot Lake has a recent history of E. coli and harmful algal bloom closures, including a 2024 closure that shut swimming for the rest of that season, so check the park's current beach status before you count on a swim.

Lyman Run Lake is a 45-acre man-made lake in Potter County fed by a spring-fed mountain trout stream, and that feed keeps the water cold all summer, rarely climbing above 70 degrees even in July. Visitors describe the setting as a small oasis, a lake tucked into a forested valley of maple and cherry with wooded hillsides all around.

The swimming happens off a 300-foot sand beach with grassy areas alongside, and it draws plenty of families with young kids building sandcastles. As state-park swimming holes go, this is a reliable one, just bracing. There has been no lifeguard since 2008, so plan to keep an eye on your own crew.

Greenwood Furnace State Park packs a lot into a small package: a six acre lake with a sand beach, the ruins of a 19th century iron furnace town, and water clear enough to see the sandy bottom. Visitors consistently mention that clarity, clear enough to see your feet, which is not something every Pennsylvania lake can claim.

The roped swim area only reaches about 5 feet deep, so this swimming hole suits families and casual swimmers more than distance swimmers. The beach runs late May through mid September, and one regular describes the water as comfortably warm from about mid June through August.

Beach 11, officially Kohler Beach, is the most sheltered of Presque Isle State Park's 13 numbered swim beaches on Lake Erie, and the park describes its water as shallow. That combination makes it one of the calmer places to swim on the peninsula, a real contrast to the park's more exposed, surf-facing beaches.

It is a lifeguarded swimming hole in season, guarded noon to 7:30 from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day, with a large sandy beach, a playground, picnic areas, and a beach house right there. For families with young kids, this is the Presque Isle beach to pick.

Seven Points Beach is one of only two official places to swim on Raystown Lake, the massive 8,300-acre reservoir in Huntingdon County. The buoy-marked swim area comes in two flavors: a larger zone with a concrete bottom, and a smaller sand-bottom cove that families treat as a shallow kiddie beach. One visitor summed it up simply, the water is clean and this beach is especially good for small children.

The setting is open, grassy hillside with some shade, a sand beach with sand boxes, and Seven Points Marina nearby on the lake's western shore. There are no lifeguards at this swimming hole, per the Corps of Engineers, so everyone swims at their own risk inside the buoy lines.

Pleasant Valley Beach is the south shore counterpart to Lakeview Beach at Moraine State Park, a 400 foot turf-and-sand beach on Lake Arthur about a mile from PA Route 422. It is a developed, family-oriented place to swim rather than a hidden swimming hole, with mowed lawn running down to the sand and a snack bar in season.

Swimming is in the open water of the 3,225 acre reservoir, and it suits casual, supervised family swims; there is no lifeguard, so the park's official line is swim at your own risk. A sand volleyball court and playground on the west side of the beach handle the between-swim energy.

Swim Beach at Blue Marsh Lake is the official swimming hole in the Dry Brooks Day Use Area, a maintained beach on a 1,147-acre Army Corps reservoir northwest of Reading. The setting comes with a lot around it: boat launches, picnic shelters, a visitor center, and 36 miles of multi-use trails lacing the surrounding 5,000-acre recreation area.

The Corps watches this water closely, testing weekly for bacteria and seasonally for cyanobacteria toxins, and the beach has been closed and reopened based on those results. The practical takeaway: check current conditions before you drive out, and skip any water that looks discolored, foamy, or scummy, especially with kids and dogs in tow.

Milford Beach is one of only a handful of official swim beaches in Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, a sandy stretch of the Delaware River just south of Milford. This is river swimming, not a calm contained swimming hole: you wade in off the beach into open current, and the Park Service requires lifejackets in the water and bans inflatable pool toys in the swim area for exactly that reason.

There are no lifeguards, so kids need lifejackets and close supervision, though the sandy, gentle-slope entry makes getting in easy. The lot is first-come, first-served and fills on summer weekends, and once it is full the area closes to new arrivals.

Worlds End State Park has one of Pennsylvania's classic dam-built swimming holes, a roughly one-acre pool on Loyalsock Creek backed up by a 7-foot dam the Civilian Conservation Corps era left behind. The park officially lists swimming here, with a sandy beach open Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day. Visitors describe the water as cold, clear mountain-stream stuff, the kind where you can spot trout in the pool, and nearby rocks get used informally as jump spots.

The setting is a big part of the draw: the swim area sits down in the Loyalsock Creek gorge, near the S-shaped bend that gave the park its name, surrounded by the forested Endless Mountains. Just know the creek can turn powerful after heavy rain, and there has been no lifeguard here since 2008, so you swim at your own risk.

Keystone Park Beach has an unlikely backstory for a swimming hole: the 78-acre lake it sits on was dammed in 1909 to wash coal for the Keystone Coal and Coke Company. Today it's the developed sand swimming beach of Keystone State Park near New Alexandria, open daily from 8 a.m. to sunset between late May and Labor Day, with a food concession selling hot and cold food through the season.

The lake stays quiet because only non-powered and electric boats are allowed, and the 2-mile ADA-accessible Lakeside Loop circles the water past a causeway and the dam. It's a swim-at-your-own-risk beach with no lifeguard service indicated, and note that food, drinks, pets, and smoking are all prohibited on the sand itself.

Chestnut Run Swim Beach is one of the few developed, officially sanctioned places to swim among the Army Corps' Pittsburgh District lakes, a managed swimming hole on the north shore of Shenango River Lake just off Route 846 near Transfer. Visitors call it nice, very clean, and great for family swimming, and the free first-come picnic pavilion makes it an easy full-day spot.

Go in with your eyes open on conditions, though. There is no lifeguard, and water clarity swings with rainfall and lake level; one visitor warned the lake ran like mud city after high water, and the reservoir has seen blue-green algae blooms in five of the last seven summers. Check for advisories before a mid-summer visit and you will be fine.

This is the official 500-foot sand and turf beach on Raccoon Lake, the 101-acre lake at the center of Raccoon Creek State Park about 26 miles west of Pittsburgh. It is a developed day-use beach rather than a hidden swimming hole, but it is the park's designated place to swim, open late May through mid-September from 8am to sunset.

Swimming is officially at your own risk with no lifeguard service documented, and the natural lake bottom drops off away from shore, so keep young swimmers close. A bathhouse and concession stand sit right beside the beach, which makes staying for a full day easy.

Muskrat Beach is the main swim beach at Prince Gallitzin State Park, a drive-up, developed spot on the east side of 1,635-acre Glendale Lake in the forested hills of the Allegheny Plateau. As lake swimming holes go this one is all convenience, sand, modern bathhouses, and dressing rooms right on site, with the marina and its restrooms nearby on the same side of the lake.

The beach runs late May through mid-September, 8 a.m. until sunset. Swimming is officially at your own risk, with no lifeguards mentioned on the park page, so treat it as easy family lake swimming with an adult keeping watch.

Sayers Dam Beach is Bald Eagle State Park's official swim area, a 1,200-foot stretch of sand and turf on Foster Joseph Sayers Lake, a 1,730-acre reservoir wrapped in forested ridges. The lake even hosts the open-water swim leg of a regional triathlon, so this is a legitimately swimmable lake, not just a wading pond.

The beach runs Memorial Day through Labor Day, 8 a.m. to sunset, and there is no lifeguard, so it is posted swim-at-your-own-risk. For families looking for an easy lake swimming hole with real facilities behind it, restrooms, changing rooms, and free parking, this checks the boxes. Come back in October if you can, when the fall foliage over the water is the show.

Tobyhanna State Park covers 5,440 acres of Pocono Plateau forest and wetland, and its centerpiece is a solid lake to swim in: 170-acre Tobyhanna Lake, formed by damming Tobyhanna Creek. The DCNR maintains an official sand beach on the lake, the park's state-run swimming hole, open from Memorial Day weekend through mid-September.

This is calm, family-style lake swimming rather than anything wild, and the price is right since beach access is free. The beach is unguarded, though, so it is a swim-at-your-own-risk arrangement, and adults should keep an eye on kids.

Pat Crawford Beach is the guarded public swim beach on Edinboro Lake, a 245-acre lake about 15 minutes south of Erie. It is the centerpiece of the borough's parks, with a sandy shoreline, an open lawn for picnicking, and lifeguards on duty daily from noon to 4 through the summer.

The swimming is calm, flat lake water inside a roped area, well suited to families during guarded hours. Outside that zone Edinboro Lake is a full-on recreational lake with unlimited horsepower, water skiers, and jet skis, so this is a managed beach scene rather than a secluded swimming hole.

Firemans Beach is the borough-run swim beach on the south shore of Conneaut Lake, Pennsylvania's largest natural glacial lake. It is a straightforward family swimming hole with a sandy and grassy shoreline, a playground, a picnic area, and one of the lake's two public boat launches right on site.

The borough takes the swimming seriously, running swim lessons here and having the local health department test the water weekly. Bacteria levels do spike occasionally, most recently closing swimming for about a week in summer 2025, so check for advisories before you go.

Loleta sits on the site of an 1880s logging town deep in the Allegheny National Forest, and the swimming hole here is a pond formed by a Civilian Conservation Corps-era dam across the east branch of Millstone Creek. Visitors describe the swim area as shallow and family-friendly, more of a cooling-off and wading spot than a deep-water swim, with spring-fed creek water that can run cold.

It is a comfortable setup for a full day out. There is a beach with a bathhouse right beside it, picnic areas, campsites, and a three-mile marked trail looping the valley, all with old CCC stonework still in use.

Beach 1 is the first and busiest swim beach at Presque Isle State Park, a long stretch of sand on Lake Erie just past the park entrance. This is open Great Lakes water, so expect wind-driven waves rather than a calm inland swimming hole, with lifeguards on duty and daily water testing from Memorial Day through Labor Day.

Swimming is allowed only in the guarded zones during the season, and outside them wading is capped at knee depth within about 10 feet of shore. With a bath house, ample free parking, and a family beach scene, it is the park's most convenient place to swim.

Tuscarora State Park Beach is the easy kind of swimming hole, a sand beach on the 96-acre Tuscarora Lake near Barnesville in Pennsylvania's Coal Region hills. The swim zone is marked off with buoys and tops out at 5.5 feet deep, so it suits families and casual swimmers far better than anyone chasing deep open water. It is drive-up and developed, not a backcountry scramble.

The lake itself sits behind a dam, ringed by hemlock forest, rhododendron, and wetland meadows, and shoreline trails like the Lake View Trail run out to the dam for wide views over the water. There is no lifeguard mentioned on official pages, so swimming is at your own risk, and cell service is spotty throughout the park.

Laurel Hill State Park runs a 1,200 foot man-made sand beach on Laurel Hill Lake, a 63 acre reservoir the Civilian Conservation Corps built in the 1930s in the Laurel Highlands. Visitors describe clear, clean, well kept water, and the buoy-marked swim area tops out at five feet deep, so this is comfortable, family style lake swimming.

It is a staffed state facility rather than a wild swimming hole, with the beach open late May through Labor Day, 8 a.m. to sunset. Swimming is at your own risk, so keep watch on the kids.

Twin Lakes Recreation Area is a Forest Service site deep in the hardwood forests of the Allegheny National Forest, built around a small 10-acre lake on Hoffman Run, a stocked trout stream. The swimming hole here is a 100-foot by 60-foot sand beach with a buoyed-off swim area, and because no boating is allowed on the water, you get a rare thing: a lake swim with zero boat wake or prop traffic.

It is a genuinely kid-friendly setup, free for day use, with a bathhouse at the beach and an accessible fishing pier nearby for anyone who would rather cast than swim. The CCC first developed the site back in 1936, and the Black Cherry Trail still circles the little lake on a hardened path.

Beach 4 is one of several designated swim beaches on North Arrowhead Lake, a 78-acre reservoir dammed across a Trout Creek tributary in 1970 purely so the surrounding Pocono Mountains community would have a lake to swim in. The water is calm and non-motorized, and the beaches are described as clean and well maintained, suited to easy family swimming.

The catch is access: Arrowhead Lake is a private gated community, and the beaches are managed by the community association for residents, guests, and renters, not the general public. Book a rental home inside the gates and the lake, the pools, and the paddle craft all come with the stay.

Palmyra Township Public Beach is a small municipal beach on Lake Wallenpaupack near Hawley, Pennsylvania, and it exists as a public place to swim by design. When the Township secured the property from PPL, the utility that impounds the 5,700-acre lake, it came with the condition that the beach stay open to public swimming.

The beach runs seasonally, roughly mid-June into early September, about 11am to 5pm daily, weather permitting, with a concession stand on site. It also sits along the Wallenpaupack Walking Trail, a 1.8-mile lakeside path, so you can pair a swim with an easy walk along the water.

Kiasutha sits on the Kinzua Bay arm of the Allegheny Reservoir, about 10 miles from Kane, and it is one of the more dependable places to swim in the Allegheny National Forest. Instead of sand, a big grassy lawn runs right down to the shoreline where the designated swim area waits.

The Forest Service rates the swim area for up to 900 people, so think developed, family oriented swimming hole rather than hidden wilderness spot. The beach and picnic area operate roughly late May through early September.

Hideout North Beach is the amenity beach for The Hideout, a private gated community on Roamingwood Lake in the Poconos, so this is a members and guests situation rather than a public swimming hole. If you own, rent, or are visiting someone in the community, though, it is a genuinely well run place to swim.

The roped off swim area is lifeguarded, the lake averages about 6 feet deep, and the association tests the water weekly for E. coli. There are swim lessons and even a competitive swim team based at the beach, which tells you how central lake swimming is to life here.

Gifford Pinchot State Park has been putting central Pennsylvanians in the water since 1961, when the park opened around the newly built 340-acre Pinchot Lake. The swimming happens at the Quaker Race Day Use Area, where a large, ADA-accessible sand beach fronts a designated swim zone, real lake water rather than a pool, and it has been one of the park's original draws from the start.

Swimming is at your own risk within the posted rules, and no lifeguard staffing is confirmed either way, so families should plan to supervise. Beyond this swimming hole, the 2,338-acre park wraps the lake with camping, disc golf, and a stretch of the Mason-Dixon Trail, and a boat rental concession operates on site.

Beach Two, also called Jamestown Beach, is the south shore's designated swimming hole at Pymatuning State Park, one of three official public swim beaches on the enormous Pymatuning Reservoir straddling the Pennsylvania-Ohio line. At more than 17,000 acres, this is a lot of lake to swim in, and Beach Two gives you the sanctioned way in from the Jamestown day-use area.

The beach sits among reservable pavilions and shoreline picnic areas, so it works well as the swim stop on a bigger lake day. DCNR does not staff it with lifeguards, and the reservoir's beaches get routine bacteria testing, so a quick conditions check before you go is smart.

Tunnelville Beach is the Army Corps of Engineers' designated swimming hole on Crooked Creek Lake, set on a sandy peninsula near the site of the old Tunnelville community. There is no admission fee, which makes this one of the few genuinely free lake beaches around, and the swim zone is roped off with buoys to keep it separate from the boat channel.

The Corps takes water quality seriously here. The lake is tested weekly by a certified lab monitored by the state health department, and the beach closes if bacteria levels climb, which tends to happen in hot weather. Kids under 13 are required to wear life jackets in the water, and there is no mention of lifeguards, so plan on watching your own crew.

New Providence Beach is one of four swim beaches the property owners association runs on Treasure Lake, a 379-acre private reservoir inside the 9,000-acre gated Treasure Lake community near DuBois. It is a maintained sand beach for swimming and sunning on the main lake, the same water used for motorboating, water skiing, tubing, and kayaking, with a 200-slip marina and four boat launches elsewhere on shore.

Like the rest of the community's beaches, this swimming hole is for property owners and accompanied guests only. Lifeguards are posted as staffing permits, and the association is upfront that swimming is at your own risk whenever no guard is on duty.

Spillway Beach is one of two designated swim beaches on Youghiogheny River Lake, a 16 mile flood control reservoir in the Laurel Highlands near Confluence. The sandy, roadside beach sits near the Youghiogheny Dam, and a visitor describes the water as warm and clean, with picnic tables and grills right at the water's edge.

The lake is big, open water that powerboaters and water skiers use heavily, so this swimming hole comes with real boat traffic and no lifeguards. It also saw a harmful algal bloom closure in summer 2024, so skip the water if you see discoloration or surface scum.

Tatman Run Beach is a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers day-use site on the southern end of Raystown Lake, the 8,300-acre reservoir winding through central Pennsylvania's ridge-and-valley country. It pairs a designated swimming beach with a reservable picnic shelter and a boat ramp right on the water, making it a dependable, easy stretch of the lake to swim in without the scene at the bigger Seven Points Beach.

This is the smaller, quieter option among Raystown's named access points, popular for family picnics and gatherings. No lifeguard is mentioned in the official facility info, and the boat ramp shares the same small site, so launching boats operate close to the swim area. Keep an eye on kids and pick your spot on the sand accordingly.

Eagles Mere Beach is a throwback resort swimming hole at the north end of Eagles Mere Lake, a 250-acre spring-fed lake in Pennsylvania's Endless Mountains. The water is cold and famously clear, with visibility down several feet to the sandy bottom, and one visitor described the slightly disorienting sensation of floating above rather than in the water. Lifeguards watch a marked swim area where you can wade the shallows or jump off the dock and diving platform, all framed by green-and-white striped umbrellas and a snack bar.

The big catch: this is not a public lake to swim in. The Eagles Mere Association owns the whole lake, and beach access is limited to members and their guests, which in practice means staying at a lodging property like the Eagles Mere Inn or renting a house from an association member.

Moraine State Park's North Shore holds Lakeview Beach, one of two official swim beaches on Lake Arthur, a 3,225 acre reservoir with 42 miles of shoreline near Portersville. This is a state-designated sand beach rather than an informal swimming hole, backed by a bathhouse with showers, changing facilities, and a snack bar.

The swimming is calm reservoir water suited to casual family days, though there are no lifeguards, so it is officially swim at your own risk. The lake itself is a comeback story, completed in 1970 on land reclaimed from old mining and oil drilling, and it now hosts osprey and bald eagle nests that have been active since the mid-1990s.

Promised Land Main Beach is the primary swimming hole in Promised Land State Park, a roughly 3,000-acre park sitting at about 1,800 feet on the Pocono Plateau, wrapped by the beech, oak, maple, and hemlock forest of the surrounding Delaware State Forest. The sandy beach fronts calm, controlled lake water that suits families well, one of two official places to swim in the park.

There are no lifeguards, so it is swim at your own risk, and the park has real supervision rules: kids age 10 and under must be accompanied by someone at least 14, and groups have to meet adult-to-child ratios. The beach runs daily from Memorial Day through mid-September, 8 am to sunset.

Blue Hole is exactly what the name promises, a small, deep, spring-fed swimming hole on Blue Hole Creek in Forbes State Forest, famous locally for water so clear it carries a blue tint. Visitors describe it as strikingly clear and cold even in midsummer, tucked into the Laurel Highlands near Cole Run Falls on an Exceptional Value stream.

Here is the catch, and it is a big one: 2025 testing found elevated lead levels in Blue Hole Creek, and DCNR has posted signage advising against water contact. Until that advisory lifts, treat this as a beautiful spot to visit rather than a place to swim. The pool is also deep and described by regulars as potentially dangerous, with no lifeguard and no cell service.

Greenwood Lake is a 6-acre impoundment inside Greenwood Furnace State Park in Huntingdon County, held back by a dam built in 1842 to power a gristmill for the old ironworks village and now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Today the state park runs a 300-foot sand beach on the lake, turning this small historic pond into a proper, quiet swimming hole surrounded by the 80,000-acre Rothrock State Forest.

The swimming here is low-key by design: a small lake, a sand beach, and an ADA-accessible swimming ramp that suggests a gradual entry. The beach has been unguarded since 2008 and is posted swim at your own risk, so keep kids close. You are swimming inside a preserved 19th-century iron furnace district, which gives the whole place an atmosphere most lake beaches can't match.

Lake Wallenpaupack is a massive Pocono reservoir, nearly 6,000 acres of water created in 1926 when Wallenpaupack Creek was dammed for hydroelectric power. It is a huge lake to swim in, but here is the thing: about 95 percent of its 52 miles of shoreline is private, so public swimming funnels to one spot, the sandy, lifeguarded Palmyra Township Public Beach in Hawley.

That beach is genuinely good, a wide stretch of sand with calm, swimmable water that visitors describe as clean, and it works especially well for families. Treat it as the lake's designated swimming hole and skip trying to swim elsewhere, since the open water runs up to about 60 feet deep and carries heavy boat traffic.

Gouldsboro Lake is a 250-acre Pocono reservoir with a history, its dam went up in 1895 during the region's Jay Gould-era railroad and ice-harvesting days, and the state park around it dates to 1958. Today the park's sand beach is a reliable lake to swim in for northeastern Pennsylvania, open seasonally from Memorial Day weekend into mid-September.

Like most unguarded swimming holes, this one is swim at your own risk, the park is explicit that no lifeguards are on duty. The trade-off is simplicity: Pennsylvania state parks charge no entrance fee, so a beach day here costs nothing.

Tobyhanna Lake Beach is the designated swimming hole on 170-acre Tobyhanna Lake, a maintained sand beach inside Tobyhanna State Park in the Poconos. It is a dependable, no-drama lake swim: the beach opens Memorial Day weekend and runs through mid-September, from 8:00 a.m. until sunset.

The lake has a surprisingly layered past, serving as a commercial ice-harvesting site and a federal military reservation before becoming a state park in 1949. One thing to know going in: the park makes no mention of lifeguards, so swimming is at your own risk.

Bimini Beach is a sandy community swimming hole on Bimini Lake, a 277-acre reservoir inside the gated Treasure Lake community north of DuBois. The property owners association keeps it maintained as a calm, designated swim zone built for family swimming, one of two lake beaches in the community.

The big caveat is access: this is a private, semi-gated community beach, open to property owners and guests accompanied by an owner, not the general public. If you have an in, it is an easy, sandy lake to swim in, with lifeguards on duty as staffing allows.

Conewago Lake, run today as Mt. Gretna Lake & Beach, has been drawing swimmers since the Victorian era, when the site featured a bathhouse, a high dive platform, and floating docks. The lake is fed by mountain streams and sits in the wooded Mount Gretna area of Lebanon County, about 12 miles from Hershey.

This is a managed, ticketed swim beach rather than a wild swimming hole, and that is the appeal. You get a sand beach, lifeguards on duty, a designated children's dock, and rental canoes, kayaks, and inflatables, spread across roughly eight acres of beach, lawn, and picnic grove. Just know that all tickets must be bought online ahead of time, none are sold at the gate.

Beach Lake is a 113-acre spring-fed natural lake, over a mile long, in the rolling hill country of Wayne County in Northeastern Pennsylvania, near the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River. Here is the thing to know before you drive out: the lake is privately held and ringed by lakefront cottage resorts, so there is no public day-use access. It is a lake to swim in mainly for cottage guests.

For those guests, the swimming is off sandy beaches maintained by resorts like Pine Grove Cottages and Lakeside Cottages, in water an on-lake business describes as clear and spring-fed. The resorts round it out with tubing, rowboats, kayaks, and paddleboats, and complimentary life preservers come with the boats.

Laurel Ridge Beach sits at the north end of McConnell Lake inside Hemlock Farms, a large gated community in Pike County, and that gate matters: this is a members' swimming hole, open to residents and their registered guests rather than the general public. If you live there, it is a genuinely well-managed private lake to swim in.

The community association tests the designated swim area weekly during the season, and secondary sources report lifeguards on duty from late June through Labor Day weekend. Community write-ups also mention beautiful views across the water from the beach along Route 739.

Tall Timber Lake is a small, clear lake with a sand beach tucked inside Timber Trails, a gated residential community in Pocono Pines, Pennsylvania. Fair warning up front: this is a residents-only swimming hole. There is no public admission, and beach access requires a Timber Trails Community Association member beach pass.

For those who do have access, the managing association describes it as a perfect family beach, a small clear lake with plenty of swimming areas, sand for relaxing, and a playground and grass picnic area right beside the beach. It sits in the forested Timber Trails subdivision across Route 423 from the Lake Naomi Club's recreation center.