The Pocono Mountains of eastern Pennsylvania facilitates kid-friendly activities during all four seasons. Many of the Poconos water parks, zoos and outdoor recreation facilities -- hiking trails and kayaking tours -- are open from late spring to early fall before the area's temperatures drop. In the winter, the Poconos transforms into a winter wonderland and accommodates skiing and snowboarding at the mountain's ski resorts.
During the summer, families have access to the Camelbeach Mountain Water Park (camelbeach.com) on Camelback Mountain. This water park features kid-friendly attractions such as the Kahuna Cove, a water playground with geysers and slides and the Pharaoh's Phortress Play Structure; the four-story Pharaoh's Phortress has water cannons and bridges. The park only allows children under 4 feet into these attractions; parents or guardians may accompany their children. Costa's Family Fun Park (costasfamilyfunpark.com) is less than 10 minutes east of Lake Wallenpaupack; this amusement park permits children to ride bumper boats and race on go-kart tracks. Costa's also facilitates children birthday parties for children 10 and under. The birthday package offers miniature golf passes and one ride on the go-kart track or bumper boats.
Two Poconos wildlife parks offer opportunities for children to have close encounters with wildlife species, Pocono Snake and Animal Farm (poconosnakeandanimalfarm.com) and Claw's 'N Paws Animal Park (clawsnpaws.com). Pocono Snake and Animal Farm's roster of animals features a king cobra, alligator snapping turtle, capuchin monkeys and mountain lion. During the school year, Snake and Animal hosts field trips for school classrooms. Located in Hamlin, Pennsylvania, Claw's 'N Paws Animal Park has a petting zoo, which has deer, sheep and goats. For school field trips, the Park allows children to pet an alligator or python. Claws 'N Paws is only open from May to October.
The Poconos is home to whitewater rafting companies who guide children on kayak tours of the region's rivers. Most kayaking tours in the Poconos occur on the Lehigh River. Pocono Whitewater has been open since 1976 and offers the Family-Style Whitewater package. This package provides kayaking tours for children ages 4 years and older; children must be accompanied by an adult. From June to Labor Day weekend, Pocono Whitewater (poconowhitewater.com) hosts a complimentary barbecue cookout for its guests. This tour lasts approximately 3 to 4 hours. Jim Thorpe River Adventures (jtraft.com) also hosts kayak tours on the Lehigh River. The "A Touch of Class 2" package permits kids ages 6 to 17 to kayak with adults. Group rates are available for groups of at least 15 kids.
The alpine skiing and snowboarding season in the Poconos runs from November to April, depending on the amount of snowfall. Most Poconos resorts provide skiing or snowboarding lessons for children and kids programs. For kids programs, the resorts' instructors guide children through mountain ski trails; the programs are for daytime skiing. Among the Poconos ski resorts are Camelback Ski Resort (skicamelback.com), Sno Mountain (snomtn.com) -- located near Scranton -- Shawnee Mountain (shawneemt.com) and the Alpine Mountain Ski and Ride Center (alpinemountain.com).
