The Best Activities in the Pocono Mountains

A mountainside adventure park at Camelback Resort featuring aerial ropes courses, zip lines, and the Downhill Mountain Coaster, with rides suited to both thrill-seekers and first-timers. The Downhill Mountain Coaster, a self-controlled sled-style ride down the mountainside, is the single most popular attraction and works for a wide age range, while the aerial courses scale up from beginner platforms to genuinely challenging high-ropes routes. It's an easy half-day stop for a group with mixed appetites for adrenaline, since guests can pick and choose which attractions to try.

Pennsylvania's largest outdoor water park, with more than 30 slides, a wave pool, and a lazy river spread across 26 acres at the base of Camelback Mountain. The scale here is the draw — enough slides and attractions that a family or group could spend a full day without repeating a ride — and the wave pool and lazy river offer a lower-key option for guests who'd rather relax than chase thrills. It gets genuinely busy on peak summer weekends, so an early arrival helps secure a good spot to set up for the day.

America's largest indoor waterpark resort, with an Africa-themed water park, family entertainment center, and convention space, open regardless of season or weather. The indoor setting makes it a genuine year-round option — a rainy or snowy day doesn't cancel a water park visit here the way it would elsewhere — and the attached entertainment center offers arcade games, mini golf, and other activities beyond the water park itself for a full day indoors. It's a particularly useful backup plan for a winter trip that wants one guaranteed indoor activity day.

Vintage passenger trains departing from Jim Thorpe's restored 1888 station, following the Lehigh River through Lehigh Gorge State Park with narrated views of whitewater and old canal ruins below. The route runs along tracks that once carried coal out of the region, and the narration covers both the natural scenery and the area's industrial history as the train winds through the gorge. Seasonal holiday-themed trains add a festive option in late fall and winter alongside the standard scenic runs.

A 2.5-mile tri-oval known as "The Tricky Triangle," hosting NASCAR Cup Series race weekends each summer alongside track tours and driving experiences on off-weekends. The track's unusual asymmetric layout, with three distinct turns of different radii and banking, is part of what makes it a favorite among drivers and fans alike, and race weekends bring a full festival atmosphere with camping, vendors, and concerts alongside the racing itself. Off-season track tours and ride-along experiences let non-race-weekend visitors get a taste of the track at speed.

Known as "the Niagara of Pennsylvania," a network of boardwalk trails leads past eight waterfalls, including the dramatic 100-foot Main Falls, ranging from an easy half-mile walk to a two-hour full trail system. The trail system is designed in tiers, so a group can choose a short loop to the Main Falls overlook alone or commit to the full network and see all eight falls in one outing. Well-maintained boardwalks and viewing platforms make most of the shorter routes manageable for a wide range of ages and fitness levels.

A full-scale casino resort with table games, slots, a spa, and a concert venue that regularly hosts national touring acts — a change of pace from the region's outdoor-focused attractions. Beyond the gaming floor, the resort's spa and dining options make it a reasonable half-day stop even for guests who don't gamble, and the concert calendar is worth checking ahead of a trip in case a touring act lines up with the visit. It's one of the few genuinely indoor, adults-oriented options in the region.

Billed as the birthplace of paintball, this sprawling wooded property offers dozens of themed playing fields for groups, from wooded bunkers to mock village scenarios. The sheer number of distinct fields means a full-day group visit rarely repeats the same setting twice, and the site's history as the location of the first organized paintball game in 1981 gives it a genuine claim to the sport's origin. Equipment rental and package options make it easy for a group to show up without any gear of their own.