From new river access points in Honesdale and Lackawaxen Township to a shelved proposal for a Wild and Scenic River designation, the Lackawaxen River has seen its fair share of activity over the past few months and years. 

The River Reporter set out to talk with elected officials, conservationists and other people who care about the Lackawaxen River to better understand how all these different initiatives connect and conflict. Here is what we found. 

The energy for public infrastructure along the Lackawaxen River, a movement now organized as Lackawaxen River Trails (LRT), started off by looking at the possibility of a rail trail connecting Honesdale and Hawley. 

A feasibility study completed in 2020 found that such a trail could be built, and had public support behind it. Plans continue for the trail’s construction—according to Honesdale Mayor Derek Williams, the land necessary for the trail is currently being assessed for a potential easement. 

However, the immediate fruits of LRT’s efforts have been smaller projects, in the form of individual trail segments and river access points. 

Out on the water

The Lackawaxen River has legal status as a publicly accessible river. It’s designated as a “navigable stream” by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), with a sub-designation as a “public highway.”

“The allowable uses in public waters are quite broad… When entering a public waterway lawfully (e.g., through a public access point), the public can wade, boat, fish, float or otherwise be in the waterway from bank to bank where it passes through private property,” reads a portion of the 2020 Wayne County Trail Feasibility Study. 

However, that legal, public access to the river has been in short supply. 

“The Lackawaxen River, until we got involved, had no public access in Wayne or Pike counties directly to the river,” says Grant Genzlinger, an LRT member since the group’s inception. 

The idea of public access to the Lackawaxen River was the part of the trail feasibility study most strongly supported by the community, he adds. And, he says, it has benefits to those beyond the members of the public who may use them for river recreation—the difficulty of water access can cause people to access the river by means of trespassing, causing harm to the owners of the private property on whom they’re trespassing, and the lack of public river accesses hinders emergency responders as they try and get out onto the river in emergency situations. 

The past few years have seen three public access points open up along the Lackawaxen River, with more in the works. 

Hawley has a public river access point at Bingham Park. That access was joined by one at White Mills Recreation Park in October 2023, and another a year later with Sycamore Point Park in Honesdale. A fourth is planned for Indian Orchard, along Route 6 between Honesdale and Hawley; according to LRT, it’s expected to be complete by the end of the year. 

In addition, LRT has put together a trail connecting Lake Wallenpaupack and downtown Hawley, called the Gorge Trail. That trail, which underwent construction in late 2024, is almost ready for public use, and LRT says there will be an official opening once all approvals are finalized. 

Threshman's property, pictured, was historically used as a commercial river launch off the Lackawaxen River.

RR file photo by Liam Mayo

Who counts as the public

There’s another river access point soon to open further downstream of the LRT’s projects, this one created by Lackawaxen Township. 

Lackawaxen Township’s ordinances prevent anyone from operating a commercial launch operation into the river from township property. The one exception is a property known as Threshman’s, which operated as a commercial river launch for decades, and where commercial use was grandfathered into the town’s ordinances. 

While Threshman’s no longer operates as its own independent operation, an agreement with Kittatinny Canoes allows that livery to launch from Threshman’s, which they do in a limited capacity. 

The township began to hear rumors—though supervisor Mike Mancino can’t confirm if they were true—that someone planned to buy Threshman’s and to turn it into more of a commercial entity. He adds, “We were like, ‘That’s contrary to our entire vision of the river.’”

The township made plans to buy it, to keep it from becoming more of a commercial entity and to have it available for development as a public resource. 

However, the decision from the township to buy the property was contentious. The public meeting where the purchase was discussed included heated public discussion, with residents saying they would prefer for the property to remain in private hands. 

The land along the Lackawaxen River is mostly held by private landowners, particularly in the Pike County portion of the river. Some of these landowners have little interest in encouraging public use of their river. 

“There’s a mentality or a philosophy that, ‘Hey, you want access to the river, buy a piece of land on the river,’” Mancino says. 

Mancino says the township believed it would be better to own the property itself and to offer it for residents to use than to have someone else come in and increase commercial activity along the river. 

The township also agreed to try and restrict access to the site to only Lackawaxen Township residents. While township supervisors have said that enforcement of that rule will be difficult, they will at least put up signs indicating the launch is only for use by township residents. 

Additionally, Mancino says, the property’s use by the public could be a positive thing. He says a lot of people in the township live paycheck to paycheck, and aren’t able to afford waterfront property, but would still enjoy being able to go down and sit by the river. 

Stay tuned for future installments of this series in upcoming editions of the River Reporter. 

Want to add your voice to this story? Reach out to liam@riverreporter.com or to 845/252-7414 ext. 128.