Best Pennsylvania Lakes for Sailing & big water

5 Pennsylvania lakes meet our sailing & big water bar — each has a cited public-access or conditions signal behind it. Top of the list: Lake Arthur in Butler County. Ranked by public boat ramps and marinas on open water (≥2,000 acres); surface acreage and live readings are shown where published.

Public boat ramps come from PFBC open data; marinas from OpenStreetMap; surface acres from USGS NHD or cited research.

  1. 1

    Lake Arthur

    Butler County, PA3,075 acres

    3,075 acres of open water

    See full conditions & things to do
  2. 2

    Pymatuning Reservoir

    Crawford County, PA13,926 acres

    13,926 acres of open water

    See full conditions & things to do
  3. 3

    Raystown Lake

    Huntingdon County, PA8,136 acres

    8,136 acres of open water

    See full conditions & things to do
  4. 4

    Allegheny Reservoir

    McKean County, PA12,222 acres

    12,222 acres of open water

    See full conditions & things to do
  5. 5

    Lake Wallenpaupack

    Pike County, PA5,461 acres

    5,461 acres of open water

    See full conditions & things to do

More best-of lists for Pennsylvania lakes

Pennsylvania sailing & big water — frequently asked

What is the best lake for sailing & big water in Pennsylvania?

Lake Arthur in Butler County tops the list — 3,075 acres of open water. 5 Pennsylvania lakes qualify for this list overall.

How is this Pennsylvania sailing & big water list ranked?

Every lake on the list has a cited public-access or conditions signal — never an opinion. Sailing-eligible lakes have ≥2,000 acres of open water and at least one ramp or marina; we rank by access count, then by acreage. LakeVibe doesn't invent rankings: a lake only appears here when the data already supports it.

Which Pennsylvania lakes are best for sailing & big water?

Our top picks are Lake Arthur, Pymatuning Reservoir, Raystown Lake, Allegheny Reservoir. Tap any lake for its full conditions, things to do, and where to stay.