Poconos

There is no sea here. Swimming in the Poconos means freshwater lakes, and in July and August they warm to around 24°C. Lake Wallenpaupack in the north is the largest, with boat-launch coves and small sandy strips. State parks such as Promised Land, Beltzville, Tobyhanna and Hickory Run have guarded lake beaches that families crowd into on summer weekends. Lake Harmony and the smaller private lakes go with lakeside cabins and rental houses.

The season is short, roughly from June to early September. The beaches are small and grassy rather than long and sandy, and lake swimming is something people add to a summer stay rather than the reason for it. Floating down the Delaware River on a tube is the other summer way into the water.

Eating in the Poconos is plain and comfortable, not a reason to come. Expect roadside diners, family taverns, pizza and resort dining rooms. Pennsylvania Dutch baking shows up in shoofly pie, whoopie pies and farm-stand produce. The more interesting meals are in the small towns. Stroudsburg's Main Street, the old canal town of Jim Thorpe and Milford in the far northeast each have a handful of bistros, brewpubs and coffee shops.

Craft breweries and small wineries are scattered along the back roads and make an easy afternoon. Fine dining is rare outside the larger resorts, so plan around hearty food after a day outdoors.

The region's heritage is coal, railways and nineteenth-century money, and most of it is in Jim Thorpe. This steep river town in the Lehigh Gorge has Victorian brick streets, the Asa Packer Mansion and the Old Jail Museum. Eckley Miners' Village keeps a patch-town of anthracite miners' houses almost as it was. Grey Towers in Milford, the château-style home of the forester Gifford Pinchot, is a National Historic Site. Quiet Valley farm near Stroudsburg shows Pennsylvania German rural life.

These are pleasant half-day visits, not a cultural itinerary. People come for the forests and lakes, and the sights fill a rainy afternoon.

Evenings in the Poconos happen mostly inside resorts and rental cabins. The casino resort at Mount Pocono is the one place with late gaming floors and lounges. Ski areas have après-ski bars on winter weekends, and Stroudsburg and Jim Thorpe have a few pubs and brewpubs. There is no club scene, and the roads go quiet early. Couples and families who come for a fire, a hot tub and an early start will not miss it.

The Poconos are a forested plateau cut by rivers rather than true mountains. The Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area is the centrepiece. There the river slices through Kittatinny Ridge, the Appalachian Trail follows the crest, and side valleys hold waterfalls such as Raymondskill and Dingmans. Bushkill Falls is the best known of the region's many cascades. In the south, the Lehigh Gorge near Jim Thorpe has spring and summer whitewater rafting and a long riverside rail trail for cycling. Hickory Run's boulder field is a geological oddity.

Winter brings skiing and snowboarding on Camelback, Blue Mountain and the hills around Lake Harmony. The slopes are short but reliable, and snowmaking helps. Autumn colour in October is the region's finest season. In summer the lakes add kayaking, fishing and boating, and black bears and bald eagles live in the woods.

The best day out is Bethlehem, about an hour south. Its colonial Moravian settlement has stone buildings from the 1740s, and the blast furnaces of the old steelworks stand beside it. Easton, next door, has a canal museum and an attraction built around children's crayons. To the northwest, Scranton has the Steamtown railway museum, a coal-mine tour and an electric trolley museum. In the northeast, Milford and the river villages along the Delaware make a slow drive.

New York and Philadelphia are each roughly two hours by car or coach. They are possible for a long day, but weekend traffic on the interstates makes them tiring. The towns inside the region, such as Jim Thorpe, Stroudsburg and Hawley, are short drives from any base.

The Poconos have been a family weekend escape for generations, and much of the region is built for it. Several large resorts around Mount Pocono and Tannersville are wrapped around indoor waterparks, so they work in any weather. In summer the outdoor waterpark and alpine coaster on Camelback Mountain take over from the ski runs. The ski hills are gentle, with good learning areas. Lake beaches, Bushkill Falls with its short boardwalk trails, mini-golf, go-karts and small petting zoos fill the rest of the days.

Rental houses with yards and hot tubs suit larger families. Everything needs a car, and summer and long weekends are busy, but distances are short and the pace is relaxed.

This is car country. Resorts, ski areas, lakes and trailheads are spread across four counties of forest, linked by Interstates 80 and 380 and slow two-lane roads. Within the region, most drives take between twenty minutes and an hour. Coaches run from New York to Stroudsburg and Mount Pocono, but there is no useful local transit once you arrive. The town centres of Jim Thorpe, Stroudsburg and Milford are pleasant to walk, while everything else means driving. Expect heavy traffic on Friday evenings and Sunday afternoons, and take care on winter roads after snow.

Shopping here has two sides. In Tannersville, a large premium outlet centre beside the interstate draws people looking for discounted brand-name clothing. Elsewhere it is small-town browsing: antique dealers and gift shops in Jim Thorpe, Milford and along the Delaware, local crafts, maple syrup and farm stands. There are no fashion streets or department stores of note, so most visitors treat it as a rainy-day pastime.

The region costs less than the cities its visitors come from, but it is not a cheap place to stay. Midweek cabins, older motels and shared rental houses are good value. Weekends in summer, around autumn colour and in ski season cost noticeably more. The waterpark resorts, lift tickets and restaurant meals all carry full American prices. Most outdoor pleasures cost little or nothing, including hiking, the national recreation area, state-park lakes and scenic drives. Self-catering in a rental is the usual way families keep costs down.

Live performance in the Poconos is modest but has some character. The village of Delaware Water Gap has a long jazz tradition, with a jazz festival held every late summer since the late 1970s. In Jim Thorpe, the restored Mauch Chunk Opera House hosts folk, roots and tribute acts. Stroudsburg has a historic theatre for touring rock and comedy. Summer-stock playhouses carry on a tradition of resort theatre. Programmes are mostly touring acts and seasonal shows, so check what is on before planning an evening around it.

Rest in the Poconos means withdrawal into the woods. The region built its name on secluded couples' resorts with in-room hot tubs and fireplaces. In the quieter northern lake country around Lake Wallenpaupack and Hawley there are large destination spa resorts with treatment programmes, indoor pools and lakeside walks. Grand old mountain lodges in Pike and Monroe counties add their own spas. There are no hot springs and no public bathing tradition, so the offer depends on where you book. A secluded cabin in autumn or after snow is the region's restorative pleasure at its best.