Raystown Lake launches inclusive summer yoga series at Seven Points

Seven Points Amphitheater will turn into a weekly mat-roll above Raystown Lake, with free Saturday yoga sessions set to run from May 23 through Sept. 5. The setting is the draw as much as the practice: a lakefront amphitheater in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, becoming a repeat summer wellness stop.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will host the series, called Yoga at the Lake, from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. each Saturday during the Memorial Day to Labor Day season. Tracy Lake, identified by the Corps as RYT-200, will guide the classes through the Kripalu method. The sessions are open to individuals of all ages, experience levels and body types, and the Corps describes them as adaptive and body-gentle. Participants are asked to bring a yoga mat or towel, water and comfortable clothing.

That mix of easy entry and a strong sense of place is what gives the series staying power. Raystown Lake is the largest lake entirely in Pennsylvania, and Seven Points Recreation Area is the Corps’ main hub of activity there. The lake is managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for flood risk management, hydroelectric power, recreation, and fish and wildlife conservation and mitigation, so the yoga fits neatly into a bigger public-land pattern: outdoor use that is meant to be shared, not gated.

The numbers behind the lake show why a recurring class can become part of the summer routine. In fiscal 2022, Raystown Lake recorded 1,597,310 total visits, along with 43 recreation areas, 378 camping sites, 1,616 marina slips and 45,072 special-event attendees. Visitor spending within 30 miles of the lake was estimated at $102,316,476 that year, underscoring how much the destination already functions as both a recreation anchor and an economic engine.

Raystown’s history adds another layer to the weekly gathering. The original Raystown Dam, completed in 1911, still rests nearly 200 feet below the surface near mile marker 2, while the modern dam and lake were authorized by the Flood Control Act of 1962 and dedicated in 1974 by Gerald R. Ford. Against that backdrop, a free Saturday yoga class at Seven Points feels less like a one-off event than a familiar summer ritual, with the lake itself doing as much of the work as the instructor.