Camelback Resort: Where Ski Slope Meets Water Park

Camelback Resort in Tannersville, PA, in the Poconos Mountains region, is an ideal getaway for the active family. The hotel offers a massive indoor water park, skiing, snow tubing, rock climbing, a ropes course, mini golf, laser tag, an arcade, and more. When checking in you enter a beautiful open lobby with windows overlooking the water park, an indoor adventure area, and the gift shop—and people milling about dressed in everything from swimsuits to snow gear.

We’re big fans of mid-week trips, since we like avoiding crowds and are always on the hunt for a good deal. Camelback Resort met both requirements, with a room at the fraction of the regular cost and a “free skiing or snow tubing” pass for everyone in our party. 

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Snow Tubing at Camelback Resort

The snow tubing hill is accessible by car or via a free shuttle that leaves every 15 minutes. You pick up your tubes at the base of the hill and then ride up a long magic carpet lift to the top of the hill. The resort workers manage this process really well and keep it things moving smoothly and safely. Our 4-year-old’s tube was attached to mine, so we were together the whole time and she wasn’t afraid. We raced down the hills for about 90 minutes, until our fingers and toes were pretty frozen. 

We brought our own helmets and wore warm waterproof snow clothes. If you are less than 48 inches you’ll have to attach your tube to someone taller. This was a very fun activity and you don’t have to be a guest of the hotel to participate. Prices fluctuate, and we ended up paying $20/person, saving our free vouchers for the skiing.

Arcadia: Camelback's Indoor Adventure Center

After tubing we went back to the hotel and got our extreme adventure on at Arcadia. This is an indoor adventure area with the ropes course, mini-golf, rock climbing walls, and laser tag. We purchased an ‘all stay” pass for about $28/person (we used a coupon from a booklet they gave us at check-in for $5 off). This allowed us to putt, climb, and balance on the ropes as much as we wanted during our stay and included one round of laser tag. It also included $5 worth of free games in the arcade area.

Laser tag was a surprising amount of fun; unfortunately the ‘all stay’ pass only included one round. Mini golf and the rock climbing wall were pretty straightforward. However, the ropes course was very impressive and not something you have access to every day. If you’ve never tried a ropes course before, you’re guaranteed a thrill as you teeter above the golf course and navigate the obstacles. You can also buy passes for each of the activities a la carte, so there are many different pricing options.

Aquatopia: Camelback's Indoor Water Park

Aquatopia is a thrill seeker’s ideal indoor water park. It’s a 125,000-square-foot oasis of aquatic fun with extreme slides. Aquatopia is reserved for guests staying at the lodge so it doesn’t get too overcrowded. It’s accessible via wristband that doubles as your hotel room key. It has seven pools and 13 slides, including the longest indoor water coaster in the U.S., Storm Chaser, and the Venus SlydeTrap, which was our favorite. You ride in a six-person raft, slide through dark tunnels, take steep drops, then sail up and down the walls of a giant basin until you drop down again into another dark tunnel and plunge into a pool. Our 4 year old squealed in delight, I shrieked in terror. But we raced back up the stairs again to do it several more times.

We also took full advantage of their version of the lazy river, called Lost River. This ride snakes through an area of the water park only accessible by water. It’s relaxing but full of signs suggesting waterfalls and adventure ahead, although it never really delivers on those. We also enjoyed Kartrite’s Quest, a giant aqua-play structure filled with slides and a 1,000-gallon dumping bucket at the top. Although it looks like a little kid’s area, you actually have to be 48 inches or taller to use some of the slides.