Big Pocono State Park is a
Pennsylvania state park in
Jackson
Jackson may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name
Places
Australia
* Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region
* Jackson North, Qu ...
and
Pocono townships in
Monroe County, Pennsylvania
Monroe County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in Northeastern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 168,327. Its county seat is Stroudsburg. The county was formed from sections of Northampton ...
in
Northeastern Pennsylvania
Northeastern Pennsylvania (NEPA) is a geographic region of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania that includes the Pocono Mountains, the Endless Mountains, and the industrial cities of Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Pittston, Hazleton, Nanticoke, and Carbon ...
. The park is located on
Camelback Mountain
Camelback Mountain ( ood, Cew S-wegiom) is a mountain in Phoenix, Arizona, United States. The English name is derived from its shape, which resembles the hump and head of a kneeling camel. The mountain, a prominent landmark of the Phoenix metro ...
and is maintained jointly by the
Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), established on July 1, 1995, is the agency in the U.S. State of Pennsylvania responsible for maintaining and preserving the state's 124 state parks and 20 state forests; pr ...
and Camelback Ski Corporation.
From the summit of the mountain, one has a view of vast portions of eastern Pennsylvania as well as parts of
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
and
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
. A paved drive, in length, around the summit provides visitors with a view in all directions. Visitors can see the
Delaware Water Gap
Delaware Water Gap is a water gap on the border of the U.S. states of New Jersey and Pennsylvania where the Delaware River cuts through a large ridge of the Appalachian Mountains.
The gap makes up the southern portion of the Delaware Water Gap ...
from this location.
The park, except for
Camelback Mountain Resort
Camelback Mountain Resort is a ski and snowboard resort located in the Tannersville, Pennsylvania in the Pocono Mountains.
Opened in December 1963, Camelback is the largest ski resort in the Poconos. In the 1950s, when developers were worki ...
, closes for the winter seven days following the end of
deer
Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer ...
season in December and reopens as conditions permit in the spring.
History
![Big Pocono State Park view south from Camelback Mountain](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Big_Pocono_State_Park_view_south_from_Camelback_Mountain.jpg)
The land on which Big Pocono State Park is situated was owned by Henry S. Cattell at the turn of the 20th century. Knowing of the fondness that others in the area shared with him for the view that the summit provided, Cattell constructed a stone cabin there in 1908. For many years the cabin was left unlocked so that anyone who wished to use it as a shelter, could.
The Pennsylvania Game Commission purchased the land in 1928, 12 years following the death of Cattell. In 1950, the state leased a portion of the land on the north slope for commercial development. The company was later renamed the Camelback Ski Corporation, and the facility is now a major
ski resort
A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In North ...
.
In 1953, the Pennsylvania Department of Forests and Waters (now the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources) acquired of state game lands, which comprised the land that was purchased by the Game Commission, including the ski area lease, and the area immediately around the summit.
Big Pocono State Park opened to the public in 1954, following the construction of facilities and the scenic drive around the summit. The Cattell Cabin served as a park office and a nature museum for many years.
Although the museum no longer exists, the stone cabin still stands and is paramount only to the great views one can obtain by going to the different observation points provided by both DCNR and the Camelback Ski Corporation.
Recreation
Big Pocono State Park offers a hiking trail system that consists of of interconnecting trails. The trails are of varying terrain and grade, and park officials caution inexperienced hikers to inquire at the park office before attempting the steep and rocky North Trail.
In addition to the hiking trails, there is also a horseback riding trail (). The trailhead is near the entrance of the park, on the west end.
Three picnic areas with a total of 50 tables are situated within the park. The picnic area adjacent to Cattell Cabin has tables in an open setting, and the east and south picnic areas are in a wooded setting.
The
Camelback Mountain Resort
Camelback Mountain Resort is a ski and snowboard resort located in the Tannersville, Pennsylvania in the Pocono Mountains.
Opened in December 1963, Camelback is the largest ski resort in the Poconos. In the 1950s, when developers were worki ...
, located on the north slope, boasts the largest
skiing
Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IO ...
,
snowboarding
Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralympi ...
and snowtubing facility in the
Pocono Mountains
The Pocono Mountains, commonly referred to as the Poconos , are a geographical, geological, and cultural region in Northeastern Pennsylvania. They overlook the Delaware River and Delaware Water Gap to the east, Lake Wallenpaupack to the north, W ...
. The facility has 33 trails, 13 lifts, two terrain parks, detachable quads, a
halfpipe
A half-pipe is a structure used in gravity extreme sports such as snowboarding, skateboarding, skiing, freestyle BMX, skating, and scooter riding.
Overview
The structure resembles a cross-section of a swimming pool, essentially two concave ra ...
, night skiing and 100% snowmaking. The ski area also operates the Cameltop restaurant, which is located near the summit and is open from
Memorial Day
Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monda ...
to
Columbus Day
Columbus Day is a national holiday in many countries of the Americas and elsewhere, and a federal holiday in the United States, which officially celebrates the anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas on October 12, 1492.
...
. In the summertime, a waterpark named
Camelbeach is operated on the grounds of Camelback, and this can be seen from Big Pocono.
Hunting
Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...
is permitted in designated areas of the park during hunting seasons.
Nearby state parks
![Big Pocono State Park view north from Camelback Mountain](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Big_Pocono_State_Park_view_north_from_Camelback_Mountain.jpg)
The following state parks are within of Big Pocono State Park:
*
Beltzville State Park
Beltzville State Park is a List of Pennsylvania state parks, Pennsylvania state park in Franklin Township, Carbon County, Pennsylvania, Franklin and Towamensing Township, Carbon County, Pennsylvania, Towamensing townships, Carbon County, Pennsyl ...
(
Carbon County)
*
Delaware Canal State Park
Delaware Canal State Park is a Pennsylvania state park in Bucks and Northampton Counties in Pennsylvania. The main attraction of the park is the Delaware Canal which runs parallel to the Delaware River between Easton and Bristol.
The Delawar ...
(
Bucks and
Northampton Counties)
*
Gouldsboro State Park
Gouldsboro State Park is a Pennsylvania state park in Coolbaugh Township, Monroe County and Lehigh Township, Wayne County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The park includes the Gouldsboro Lake. Gouldsboro State Park is located very close ...
(Monroe and
Wayne Counties)
*
Hickory Run State Park
Hickory Run State Park is a Pennsylvania state park in Kidder and Penn Forest Townships in Carbon County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The park is spread across the Pocono Mountains. The park is easily accessible from Interstate 476 and ...
(Carbon County)
*
Jacobsburg Environmental Education Center
Jacobsburg Environmental Education Center is a Pennsylvania state park near Wind Gap, in Bushkill Township, Northampton County in Pennsylvania. The Jacobsburg National Historic District is almost entirely surrounded by the park. Jacobsburg En ...
(Northampton County)
*
Lehigh Gorge State Park
Lehigh Gorge State Park is a Pennsylvania state park in Luzerne and Carbon Counties, Pennsylvania. The park encompasses a gorge, which stretches along the Lehigh River from a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers flood control dam in Luzerne County to J ...
(Carbon and
Luzerne Counties)
*
Nescopeck State Park
Nescopeck State Park is a Pennsylvania state park on in Butler and Dennison Townships, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania (in the United States). The park is one of the newest state parks in Pennsylvania. In the early 1970s, the state acquired 164 p ...
(Luzerne County)
*
Promised Land State Park
Promised Land State Park is a Pennsylvania state park in Blooming Grove, Greene and Palmyra Townships, Pike County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The approximately park is mostly surrounded by Delaware State Forest. It is in the Poconos ...
(
Pike County)
*
Swartswood State Park (New Jersey)
*
Tobyhanna State Park
Tobyhanna State Park is a Pennsylvania state park on mostly in Coolbaugh Township, Monroe County, with a small portion of the park in Dreher and Lehigh townships in Wayne County, all in Pennsylvania in the United States. The park includes the ...
(Monroe and Wayne Counties)
Climate
According to the
Trewartha climate classification
The Trewartha climate classification (TCC) or the Köppen–Trewartha climate classification (KTC) is a climate classification system first published by American geographer Glenn Thomas Trewartha in 1966. It is a modified version of the Köppen ...
system, Big Pocono State Park has a Temperate
Continental climate
Continental climates often have a significant annual variation in temperature (warm summers and cold winters). They tend to occur in the middle latitudes (40 to 55 north), within large landmasses where prevailing winds blow overland bringing som ...
(''Dc'') with warm summers (''b''), cold winters (''o'') and year-around precipitation (''Dcbo''). ''Dcbo'' climates are characterized by at least one month having an average mean temperature ≤ , four to seven months with an average mean temperature ≥ , all months with an average mean temperature < and no significant precipitation difference between seasons. Although most summer days are comfortably humid in Big Pocono State Park, episodes of heat and high humidity can occur with
heat index
The heat index (HI) is an index that combines air temperature and relative humidity, in shaded areas, to posit a human-perceived equivalent temperature, as how hot it would feel if the humidity were some other value in the shade. The result is als ...
values > . Since 1981, the highest air temperature was on July 22, 2011, and the highest daily average mean
dew point
The dew point is the temperature to which air must be cooled to become saturated with water vapor, assuming constant air pressure and water content. When cooled below the dew point, moisture capacity is reduced and airborne water vapor will cond ...
was on January 8, 2006. July is the peak month for
thunderstorm
A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are someti ...
activity which correlates with the average warmest month of the year. The average wettest month is September which correlates with tropical storm remnants during the peak of the
Atlantic hurricane season
The Atlantic hurricane season is the period in a year from June through November when tropical cyclones form in the Atlantic Ocean, referred to in North American countries as hurricanes, tropical storms, or tropical depressions. In addition ...
. Since 1981, the wettest calendar day was on September 30, 2010. During the winter months, the
plant hardiness zone
A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most wide ...
is 6a with an average annual extreme minimum air temperature of .
Since 1981, the coldest air temperature was on January 21, 1994. Episodes of extreme cold and wind can occur with
wind chill values < . The average snowiest month is January which correlates with the average coldest month of the year.
Ice storm
An ice storm, also known as a glaze event or a silver storm is a type of winter storm characterized by freezing rain. The U.S. National Weather Service defines an ice storm as a storm which results in the accumulation of at least of ice on e ...
s and large snowstorms depositing ≥ of snow occur nearly every year, particularly during
nor’easter
A nor'easter (also northeaster; see below), or an East Coast low is a synoptic-scale extratropical cyclone in the western North Atlantic Ocean. The name derives from the direction of the winds that blow from the northeast. The original use of ...
s from December through March.
Ecology
According to the
A. W. Kuchler August William Kuchler (born ''August Wilhelm Küchler''; 1907–1999) was a German-born American geographer and naturalist who is noted for developing a plant association system in widespread use in the United States. Some of this database has bec ...
U.S.
potential natural vegetation
In ecology, potential natural vegetation (PNV), also known as Kuchler potential vegetation, is the vegetation that would be expected given environmental constraints (climate, geomorphology, geology) without human intervention or a hazard event ...
types, Big Pocono State Park would have a dominant vegetation type of Northern
Hardwood
Hardwood is wood from dicot trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen. Hardwood (which comes from ...
(''106'') with a dominant vegetation form of
Northern hardwood forest
The northern hardwood forest is a general type of North American forest ecosystem found over much of southeastern and south-central Canada, Ontario, and Quebec, extending south into the United States in northern New England, New York, and Pennsyl ...
(''26'').
The peak spring bloom typically occurs in early-May and peak fall color usually occurs in early-October. The
plant hardiness zone
A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most wide ...
is 6a with an average annual extreme minimum air temperature of .
References
External links
*
{{authority control
State parks of Pennsylvania
Pocono Mountains
Protected areas established in 1954
Parks in Monroe County, Pennsylvania
1954 establishments in Pennsylvania
Protected areas of Monroe County, Pennsylvania