Pocono Mountains in Numbers
26.6 million visitors yearly
2400 square miles
4 counties
2 National Parks
10,000 rooms
150 lakes
30,000 tourism employees
261 miles of hiking trails
170 river miles
4 indoor waterparks
9 State Parks
19 waterfalls
6 ski areas
636 skiable acres
30 golf courses
Firsts & Historic Highlights
- The first American railroad was built in 1827 between Summit Hill and Mauch Chunk (now Jim Thorpe), Carbon County.
- Harry Packer Mansion in Jim Thorpe served as the inspiration for Disneyworld's Haunted Mansion.
- The first steam locomotive in America, the Stourbridge Lion, made its trial run on the Gravity Railroad in 1829 in Honesdale, Wayne County.
- The first J.J. Newberry store was built in Stroudsburg, Monroe County.
- The first commercial ski area opened in Pennsylvania in the winter of 1946 at Big Boulder Ski Area in Lake Harmony, Carbon County.
- Snowmaking was patented at Big Boulder Ski Area in 1956. It was the first ski area to make snow for skiing.
- The first silent movie ever made in the United States was filmed in Milford, Pike County, in 1912.
- Daniel Beard at Lake Teedyuskung, Milford, and Pike County established the first Boy Scout camp in the United States.
- On Dingmans Creek there are two waterfalls that together, have a larger drop than Niagara; but not a sheer drop of water. They are Dingmans and Silver Thread Falls in Pike County.
