The original developers of the lake inserted a clause in all the deeds that prohibits using any house at Lake Wynooska as a resort or business. A few unscrupulous people may attempt to rent their cottage to you but
you risk fines, trespass charges and possible arrest if you are found on private property at the lake. A renter will likely be trespassing on private property if they walk beyond the boundary of the rental property or the road to the rental property.
Several investors have purchased property with the sole purpose of making money, not to enjoy the peace and quiet of the Pocono Mountains. The old days when a person´s honor meant something to them seems to be gone, particularly if there is a buck to be made. These days some people make agreements (such as signing a property deed) and then choose to ignore the parts they deem inconvenient.
The lake residents could sue the investors to force compliance but a lawsuit is an expensive and time-consuming proposition. Ultimately it may come to that but for now there is an alternative pathway: Inform potential renters that they are not welcome at Lake Wynooska.
You may be a wonderful person or family but experience has shown that many renters could care less about the neighbors, their property or their feelings. Renters who come find a tense, unfriendly atmosphere at the lake. Why would you want to deal with that while on vacation? There are thousands of places to rent in the Poconos. Do yourself, family and friends a favor and pick somewhere other then Lake Wynooska for your vacation rental.
Try Lake Wallenpaupack. It is a very popular Lake in the area, it is much larger then Lake Wynooska and offers many amenities including power boating and boat rentals. A
Google Search will return many, many rentals in all price ranges.
Homeowners have had numerous problems with renters. The Pennsylvania State Police and Game Wardens have been at the lake numerous times to address problems with renters including dumping trash on private property, damaging private property, noise, fishing without licenses, trespassing, stealing firewood, and urinating in public. It is not surprising that the neighbors do not welcome renters. Unless you enjoy being scorned, you are almost certain to have a miserable stay at Lake Wynooska if you ignore the suggestion of renting elsewhere.
Despite the misleading rental descriptions, there is no golf, horseback riding, skiing, hunting, hiking, shopping, wildlife park, restaurant, water skiing, jet skiing, mountain biking, snowboarding, snowmobiling, rock climbing, hot air ballooning or anything else like that at Lake Wynooska.
It is true that some of the owners at the Lake are avid hunters. The hunters and their guests spend many hours hunting and honing their shooting skills around the lake. In 2007 a gun-shy renter called the police because a homeowner was target practicing at his rifle range. The State Police were quite impressed with the homeowner´s setup and quite annoyed with getting a false call from the renters.
The pictures you have seen are misleading. Take a look through
the photo gallery and you will see that the rentals are on tiny pieces of land. All the open land where one can go hiking and enjoy the outdoors is privately owned and posted. It is open to hiking ONLY with permission from the land´s owner.
Only the owner of the lake can give you permission. Any lawyer would likely warn the lake owner of the potential liability of letting unknown individuals access to the lake where they could injure themselves or possibly drown. The liability could be incredible.
They do apply to you unless you have the express permission of the land´s owner to use the posted property. Trespassing on posted land is a criminal offense that is taken very seriously in Pennsylvania. You likely WILL be arrested if caught.
The owner of the rental has control over the comments and, in some cases, has deleted past negative comments. Note that there are also no positive comments either. That, in itself, should be a warning to you.
The information presented here, and elsewhere on this Web site, is believed to be correct at the time it was published and, in some places, is the opinion of the author. Comments and corrections are welcome.