Lacawac Sanctuary Field Station and Environmental Education Center

Lacawac Sanctuary is an ecological field research station, nature preserve, and public environmental education facility located in the Northern Pocono Mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania and nestled on the shore of Lake Wallenpaupack. It was founded in 1966, via the donation of 341 acres (now totals 632 acres) and a group of historic buildings. Lacawac Sanctuary Foundation Inc. is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) membership organization.

Lacawac is most notable for 52 acre Lake Lacawac – the southernmost glacial lake in the hemisphere that has been preserved in pristine condition totally free from development or encroachment. The property also features over nine miles of hiking trails which include a natural boreal bog, the Wallenpaupack Ledges Natural Area, and Heron and Golden Ponds. Lake Lacawac was declared a National Natural Landmark by the U.S. Department of the Interior in 1966. The 1903 historic “Adirondack Great Camp” building complex at its core has been named to the National Historic Register.

Year Founded
1966
Year Joined OBFS
Size of Field Station (hectares)
101-500
FSML Web Address
https://www.lacawac.org/

Private nonprofit organization?
Yes
Universities affiliated / Parent Organization
No
Federal, state, or local governmental partners?
No
Member of the Virtual Field
Yes

Additional Information

Private nonprofit organization?
Names of Universities affilated
0
Federal, state, or local governmental partners?
No
Name of partner
Tribal partners/users
No
MSI/HBCU users
No
Community College users
No
Member of the Virtual Field
Yes

Visiting a FS/ML

Open to the Public
Yes
Year round staff
6-10
Seasonal staff
3-5
Overnight housing facilities/# of beds
21-50
Distance to emergency services
0-20 minutes
Library
No
Hiking trails
Yes
Internship employment
Yes

Environmental Information

Biomes
Temperate Forest
Minimum Elevation
301-750 meters
Maximum Elevation
301-750 meters
Köppen climate classification
C (temperate)
Freshwater habitats
Yes
Urban or rural
Agricultural fields
No

Research

REU host station
No
Dry lab space
Yes
Wet Lab space
Yes
Research vessels available
Yes
GIS capacity on site
No
Long term data sets
Yes
On site herbarium or voucher species
Formal Data Management Plan
No
Mesocosms, plots, stream diversions, or other sets ups for outdoor manipulative experiments
Yes
Date Joined OBFS
October 14, 2023

Events

Writing Workshop

Academic Writing Retreat at Lacawac Sanctuary Our writing retreats for academics, PhD students and other professionals offer you the possibility to concentrate on thinking, reading and writing in a sustained way, to recharge your battery, and to gain new inspiration. For individuals and groups. Let original new ideas be born, maybe even ground-breaking ideas for…
Learn More

Job Postings

Manager of the Pocono Lake Ecological Observatory Network (PLEON) at Lacawac Sanctuary