Two of Pennsylvania’s largest ski areas are preparing notable improvements for the coming winter, including Camelback’s first new trails in three decades and 315 new LED lights at Blue Mountain.
Two Pocono ski resorts will greet visitors with visible changes during the 2026-2027 winter season.
Camelback Resort is adding three trails, bringing its total to 45, along with two new places to find food and drinks on the mountain. Farther west near Palmerton, Blue Mountain Resort is completing its conversion to LED trail lighting while continuing work on its snowmaking system.
Three New Trails at Camelback
Camelback says the new terrain represents its first trail expansion in 30 years and will give it more named trails than any other ski area in the Poconos. The additions cover three ability levels and are spread across different parts of the mountain.
A new double-black-diamond trail will begin near the top of the Stevenson Express and connect with Pharaoh. An intermediate trail will branch from the skier’s left side of Upper Cleopatra and lead to Big Pocono. The third addition, rated as a black diamond, will run beneath the Black Bear 6 chairlift and offer another route between Basilisk and John Bailey.
The expansion will not dramatically change the footprint of the 800-foot-vertical ski area, but it should give returning visitors a few new lines to explore and provide additional ways to move around the mountain. The trails will raise Camelback’s published count from 42 to 45.
Camelback is also adding the Alpine Outpost beside Coolmoor, the teaching slope used for many of the resort’s ski and snowboard lessons. The food-and-beverage stop is intended to serve parents watching lessons as well as guests passing through the area. A separate hot chocolate bar will open beside the trail descending from Upper Cleopatra.
The Bailey chairlift is scheduled to return for opening day with a new gearbox, providing another route out of the lower mountain. Camelback has also repainted its lifts in an evergreen color as part of a general refresh.
Brighter Nights at Blue Mountain
Night skiing is receiving much of the attention at Blue Mountain, which is installing 315 LED trail lights. Once the work is complete, the resort says its entire lighted trail network will use LEDs.
The new fixtures are being installed along Vista, Easy Out, School Hill, Come Around, Lazy Mile, Tut’s Lane, Sidewinder, and Valley School East and West. Blue Mountain says the conversion will reduce energy use and advance its effort to lower the resort’s carbon footprint.
The project is especially relevant in the Mid-Atlantic, where night skiing allows many guests to get on the snow after work or school and helps resorts make greater use of relatively short winter seasons. Blue Mountain offers Pennsylvania’s largest vertical drop, and its evening operation extends across terrain for beginners through advanced skiers and snowboarders.
Less visible work is taking place beneath the slopes. Blue Mountain is installing underground snowmaking pipe on School Hill and Vista, and automated pump controls are being added to the Creekside pumphouse. The controls will allow the resort to manage part of its water-delivery system more efficiently as snowmaking conditions change.
Those improvements continue a multi-year effort to increase snowmaking output and efficiency. In the Poconos, where natural snowfall can vary sharply from one winter to the next, the ability to take full advantage of a cold night remains one of the most important investments a ski area can make.
Together, the projects give the two resorts different calling cards for the coming season: new terrain and mountainside food options at Camelback, and brighter night skiing backed by additional snowmaking work at Blue Mountain.
