Rick's Road Trips: Camelback Resort offers numerous indoor, outdoor attractions

CAPE MAY, New Jersey (WPVI) -- Rick's Road Trip had to include a stop in the Poconos. Camelback Resort and other mountain attractions are only about an hour and a half from Philadelphia.

Like every other business, various restrictions forced the folks at the resort to pivot, and they say they learned how to even better serve their guests.

Camelback, in Tannersville, Pa., saw business suffer during COVID. In fact, the entire Poconos hospitality industry took a big hit.

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For now, all is quiet at Morey's piers, however, that will all change when the rides and boardwalk booths open on Friday, April 29.

"We were very, very limited on what we could open, what we could have. But now, looking back, we discovered a lot of things people liked that we didn't know before COVID," said Nicholette Nordmark, marketing manager for Camelback Resort.

With spring break here and summer approaching, resort officials are hoping to turn the corner. They're offering various outdoor mountain adventures, water parks, and arcade games, along with new activities that will be open to the public next month, like a zip line through the mountains.

With high expectations this summer season, resort officials have also put a huge emphasis on COVID-19 safety protocols.

And with high expectations this summer season, they've also put a huge emphasis on COVID protocols, even though much of the activities are outdoors. But families who've come to Camelback for spring break say they appreciate the extra attention to health and safety.

"It's kind of nice to be able to relax and enjoy and not worry about what's going to happen, if you're going to get exposed or not. We're actually much more relaxed this time around," said Jennifer Martinez from Bergen County, N.J.

"We want to make sure our guests have the most fun they can have, staying as safe as they can. And for our employees, stay safe, make it home and come back to make even more experiences," added Nordmark.

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Hotel and rental bookings are already up, and restaurants and shops are desperately trying to hire more people for the summer crush.

The snow on the resort's grounds is all but melted and they're ready for summer. Skiing and snowboarding have been replaced by warm weather adventures - from a mountain roller coaster to a tidal wave of waterslides. Camelback has redefined find itself just in time for spring break.

"We clearly have the ski mountain for the winter. We have the outdoor waterpark for the summer. So people don't always think to come here for the fall or the spring, but that's when these mountain adventures are really going off," said Nordmark.

Action News spotted several families who say they prefer the Poconos this time of year.

"It's nice, this is our first time in this particular resort," said Eric Stutzke, from Glen Rock, N.J.

"It's just a nice place to relax without having to plan a whole big complicated trip," added Martinez.

Aquatopia is one of the main attractions at Camelback. It's an indoor waterpark that's been making quite a splash since its debut.

And then there's the mountain coaster. Its 4,500-foot-long steel track zooms through trees and down steep slopes of the mountain.

The rest of the activities, including a new zipline where you can fly like superman, are opening on a rolling basis over the next few weeks.