Lake Winola, PA

Lake Winola is a lake-centered census-designated place in Overfield Township, Wyoming County, about 15 miles northeast of Scranton. The 2010 census counted 748 residents in the CDP, while the lake itself covers roughly 185 acres and is surrounded by cottages, docks, and a cottagers association. The spring-fed lake formed through glacial activity and carried several names before Winola appeared in the 1870s, including the Pond, Buttermilk Falls Pond, and Crooked Lake. The name Winola is associated with water lily.

The community's resort history arrived by rail. The Scranton, Montrose, and Binghamton Railroad's Northern Electric trolley branch reached Lake Winola in 1908, bringing summer visitors to a dance pavilion and small amusement park on the lakefront. Steamboat rides once connected the lake to Scranton; the trolley ended in 1930, and the former amusements faded, while the lake remains the organizing fact. Public fishing and boating access sits at the south end, and the Lake Winola Cottage Association maintains community events and watershed advocacy. Summer cottages still gather around the water, and the lake's seasonal rhythm remains more important than municipal boundaries and nearby roads. Lake Winola is an Endless Mountains summer community shaped by water, cottages, and an old transit line.