WAYNE AND PIKE COUNTIES, PA — The stress is rising. 

Voting has been underway for a few weeks and our Lackawaxen is trailing two other big rivers—and we’re relying on you, PA people, to help get our 31-mile river over the finish line.

PA residents can vote for our Lackawaxen for River of the Year. The deadline is Friday, January 19.

The winning river has a year-round slate of activities and events that celebrate its wonder and beauty, including a paddling trip, or sojourn. 

The organization that nominated the winning river will receive a $10,000 leadership grant from PA’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) to help fund River of the Year activities.

Why is our river awesome?

A lot has changed since 2010, when the Lackawaxen River was last River of the Year. 

Grassroots efforts to increase accessibility to the river from Prompton to Lackawaxen, combined with the work of county and state agencies, had game-changing results. The first-ever ADA access on the river was completed in October 2023 in White Mills. Hawley has its own access now, and Honesdale will get one soon at Sycamore Point—and there will be a fourth one in Indian Orchard. 

All this is the culmination of those grassroots, local and state leaders’ efforts to provide a way for the public to access the river legally.

What hasn’t changed are the innate qualities of the waterway. The name is translated as “swift waters” from the Lenape.

Those waters once carried coal to market in New York, fueling the Industrial Revolution via the Delaware & Hudson Canal. 

Generations of anglers have fished the Lackawaxen’s waters up and down its banks. They’ve shared in its natural beauty. The towns of Honesdale, White Mills, Hawley and beyond to Kimbles, Lackawaxen and more have been connected by its flow. The Wayne County Canoe Classic continues to welcome spring each year with canoes and kayaks that make the trek from Dyberry to White Mills. 

Vote for the Lackawaxen

Supporting the Lackawaxen River will serve to preserve its natural character for generations to come with enhanced accesses acting as a backbone to connect our communities by water, land and rail. 

Voting results will not be shown during the last week of voting.

The DCNR will make an official announcement of the final results at the contest’s conclusion.

Vote for the River of the Year at www.pawatersheds.org/vote-for-a-2024-river-of-the-year.

Contributed by the Wayne County Community Foundation.