Best Skiing In Poconos: Guide For Best Mountains and Dates for Prime Snow Conditions

Skiing in Pennsylvania may not hold a candle to the steep slopes and massive resorts out west, but it’s still a fun hobby and the perfect excuse to take a vacation. The Pocono Mountains are located in the northeastern part of PA. Several different resorts in these mountains offer the best skiing in the Poconos and in the state.

We’re going to look at the different places where visitors can have the best time flying down slopes along with the best time of year to plan a trip to each!

1. Camelback Mountain Resort

While it’s not the biggest ski resort in America, Camelback Mountain has a fair amount of ski area for people to enjoy. The Camelback Mountain Resort has about 166 skiable acres of land for people to use while skiing, boarding, and tubing. In total, the resort area has 35 trails, and they range in difficulty. Most of them are for beginners, but you can even find expert-rated runs.

The snowfall in the area is decent, and about 50 inches of snow falls every year. The area has snowmaking available for its slopes as well, giving plenty of coverage. January and February have the coldest temperatures and the most snowfall, so they are the best times to go skiing.

The resort isn’t as expansive as the ones out west, so crowding can happen during peak season. However, the crowds are nothing like major resorts.

The resort is also open during the warmer months, too. In fact, the resort area contains a water park near Camelback Mountain. All told, Camelback Mountain Resort is certainly one of the places for the best skiing in the Poconos. It also offers a lot more to people who stay in all seasons.

2. Blue Mountain

Blue Mountain Resort is located near Palmerton, Pennsylvania. The resort allows people to ski, tube, and snowboard on the established runs. Blue Mountain receives about 33 inches of natural snowfall each year. As a result, snowmaking is common in this area.

Given that the best time for snowy days at Blue Mountain is during late January and early February, those are the times that people should plan a trip. The holidays and winter holiday weekends may see more people than usual coming to the area, but the lines typically dissipate as the season wears on.

Blue Mountain has 164 acres of skiable area along with 40 total runs. Many of those runs are easy, but there are some intermediate, difficult, and expert-level runs mixed in as well. The resort even has night skiing in some of its areas.

Blue Mountain offers some of the best skiing in the Poconos. This site has many places to stay nearby along with great places to eat. Also, it’s open in the summer for ziplining, camping, biking, and much more!

3. Jack Frost/Big Boulder Ski Resort

The Jack Frost/Big Boulder Ski Resorts are two separate resorts that operate as one entity. Their respective ski areas are separated by I-80 in Pennsylvania and sit over a mile apart. Still, they’re both still operated under the same guiding principles.

Located in Kidder Township, Jack Frost/Big Boulder receives about 34 inches of snow per year. Like the other resorts on this list, skiing before January puts visitors at risk of not having the best conditions. As a result, the best time to visit this combined ski resort is in late January through the middle of February.

That is the time of year when the most snow is on the ground and the resorts have been able to make enough snow to keep the trails fresh. Jack Frost has 20 ski runs and Big Boulder has 18, and both places feature nighttime skiing. The resorts have many nearby places to stay as well as places to shop and dine. In short, there is much to do and see at Jack Frost/Big Boulder.

Interestingly, the resorts were bought by Vail Resorts in 2019, a company that operates over 40 different resorts throughout the U.S. That could be a sign of future development for the area or simply new management.

Other Ski Resorts Near the Poconos

Having covered the best skiing in the Poconos, it’s a good idea to look at some other great places to go skiing nearby. The Elk Mountain Ski Resort is not as well-known as Blue Mountain, and that’s what makes it the perfect hidden gem.

Elk Mountain is located in Herrick Township, and its closest major city is Scranton. This place is not terribly far from the Poconos, but it’s at least an hour and a half drive. This mountain has about 180 acres of skiable area along with 27 different runs. The mountain receives about 60 inches of snow a year and has snowmaking facilities.

Ski Big Bear is another ski resort in Lackawaxen Township. This area has 18 trails and 7 lifts and 650 feet of vertical rise. The summit features lodging and amenities, and snowmaking takes place throughout the season.

The best skiing in the Poconos can be found at Camelback Mountain, Blue Mountain, and Jack Frost/Big Boulder Mountain. They all get reasonable amounts of snow bolstered by snowmaking. Also, they feature nearby lodging, good slopes, and the potential to make memories.

If Pennsylvanians are not satisfied with the slopes in the Pocono Mountains, then they can always journey to New England ski areas or plan a trip out west. Those areas have bigger mountains and steeper slopes. Of course, they come with the potential drawbacks of having a lot more people, but the resorts are larger and more adept at handling crowds.

For now, though, potential visitors should know where to go locally if they want to experience some high-quality skiing.  

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