Wild and stocked trout in Laurel Hill Creek, a trophy-trout stretch of the Youghiogheny, an official Trout Trail — and one farmhouse with a pond all to itself. The angler's guide to the Laurel Highlands.
The Laurel Highlands quietly holds some of Pennsylvania's best trout water — enough that the region maintains an official [Laurel Highlands Trout Trail](https://www.laurelhighlandstrouttrail.org/) mapping its streams. Here's where to start.
Laurel Hill Creek: the classic
A 38-mile tributary of the Youghiogheny, Laurel Hill Creek carries stocked rainbows plus brown and brook trout — stocked *and* wild. It includes two Delayed Harvest Artificial Lures Only sections (one a walk-in stretch inside Laurel Hill State Park that's also a Keystone Select water), with long put-and-take stocked stretches between them. Translation for non-anglers in the group: fishable water for every skill level, in genuinely beautiful woods. DIY Fly Fishing's stream guide has access details.
The Youghiogheny: the big water
Between Confluence and Ohiopyle, the Yough runs a roughly 10-mile stretch that includes an all-tackle Trophy Trout section starting at the Ramcat access — wild and holdover browns, stocked rainbows, cold water all summer. It fishes best early and late in the day, and the GAP trail running alongside doubles as your access path.
Check the rules, then go
Pennsylvania fishing licenses and current regulations live at the PA Fish & Boat Commission; seasonal stocking schedules change year to year. The Trout Trail site and GoLaurelHighlands' fishing page keep current.
And then there's the pond
Here's our unfair advantage: [the Farm House](/properties/camp-laurelview-farm-house) sits on its own private pond — cast at dawn in a robe with coffee, no license drama for the kids' first bluegill, fire pit at the water's edge for the evening. It's the rare fishing trip where "the spot" is the backyard. Pair it with a morning on Laurel Hill Creek ten minutes up the road and you've built the complete Laurel Highlands angling weekend.
More of the region's outdoors, season by season: The Laurel Highlands Guide.
