Lykens is a borough in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, 30 miles (48 km) southwest of Pottsville. Anthracite coal mining sustained the people who numbered 2,762 in 1900 and 2,943 in 1910. The population was 1,937 at the 2000 census. Lykens is part of the Harrisburg–Carlisle Metropolitan Statistical Area.