BirdTrout
West Branch Lackawaxen River, Pennsylvania
12.4 mapped river miles, draining 58 square miles, in the Lackawaxen River basin watershed. A USGS gauge stands in it, but its record is too short for a measured July mean, so what this page knows about its temperature is today's reading and PA DEP's classification of the water itself.
50°F and colder is cold, through cold-transitional and cool, to warm above 70°F — the same four bands, breaking at 58, 64 and 70°F, that the app paints. Grey is water nobody has measured.
The nearest live reading
This gauge stands in the West Branch Lackawaxen River. Its record is too short for a July mean, so the class below is PA DEP's — but the reading is this water.
Thermal classification
PA DEP's classification of this water, reach by reach. A class, not a temperature — no July mean, because none was measured here.
| Reach | Typed miles | Band | PA DEP type |
|---|---|---|---|
| RM 12.4–0.0 | 10.8 | cold | — |
| RM 0.0–0.0 | 1.3 | cool | — |
| RM 0.0–0.0 | 1.4 | cold | — |
| RM 0.0–0.0 | 0.0 | cool | — |
| RM 0.0–0.0 | 0.0 | cold | — |
| RM 0.0–0.0 | 1.3 | cool | — |
| RM 0.0–0.0 | 0.3 | cold | — |
| RM 0.0–0.0 | 3.2 | cool | — |
| RM 0.0–0.0 | 0.1 | cold | — |
| RM 0.0–0.0 | 0.1 | cool | — |
| RM 0.0–0.0 | 1.1 | cold | — |
| RM 0.0–0.0 | 0.1 | cool | — |
| RM 0.0–0.0 | 0.2 | cold | — |
| RM 0.0–0.0 | 1.6 | cool | — |
| RM 0.0–0.0 | 0.1 | cold | — |
| RM 0.0–0.0 | 0.4 | cool | — |
| RM 0.0–0.0 | 0.5 | cold | — |
| RM 0.0–0.0 | 0.1 | cool | — |
| RM 0.0–0.0 | 0.7 | cold | — |
| RM 0.0–0.0 | 0.3 | cool | — |
| RM 0.0–0.0 | 1.3 | cold | — |
| RM 0.0–0.0 | 0.4 | cool | — |
| RM 0.0–0.0 | 0.7 | cold | — |
PA DEP has classified 26.0 of the 28 miles NHD carries for this stream — 94% of it. The typed water splits 17.2 mi cold, 8.8 mi cool. The untyped reaches are not warm water — they are water PA DEP's inventory does not reach, and the mile ranges above span only the reaches it does.
Questions about this river
- West Branch Lackawaxen River fishing report — what it reads right now
- How to get to the West Branch Lackawaxen River — access, parking and public land
- West Branch Lackawaxen River fishing regulations — season, size and gear by reach
PA DEP classification
PA DEP classifies this water as Cold Water Fishes and Trout Stocking. More than one class appears because the classification changes along the river. The thermal bar above shows where. The management tier on those reaches is Cold Water Fishes, Trout Stocking. This is a designation of the fishery, not the season and creel rules — those change yearly and live with the agency.
Access
1 mapped PA DEP access site within a quarter mile of the water, upstream first: Belmont Lake (RM 9.5). 0 walk-in, 1 boat or canoe launches.
Public land on the river
4 units of public or open-access land touch this river, 963 acres in total. Acreage is the whole unit, not the part beside the water.
| Unit | Owner | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| Belmont (Beaver Meadows) Lake | state fish and wildlife agency | 396 |
| Belmont (Beaver Meadows) Lake | another state agency | 396 |
| Pleasant Mount State Fish Hatchery | state fish and wildlife agency | 85 |
| Pleasant Mount State Fish Hatchery | another state agency | 85 |
Species
PA DEP designates this as trout water — Cold Water Fishes, Trout Stocking — without naming the species. No fish survey or stocking record for this water is in the files this site reads.
Tributaries and watershed
West Branch Lackawaxen River sits in HUC 8 02040103, the Lackawaxen River basin, and drains 58 square miles, Strahler order 5 at the mouth. 69 NHD reaches carry the name for 27.6 miles in total — more than the 12.4 miles of drawn mainstem, because NHD counts side channels and braids as their own reaches.
Other water nearby
The closest 6 rivers on this site, straight-line from the middle of this one — not drive time.