Under Black Bear 6, between Sullivan and John Bailey, there's a chute where Camelback's Alpine Slide used to run. The track is gone. The ground it ran over still dips and curves. This winter that stretch becomes a black-diamond ski trail, and the dips are why it was picked.
It's one of three trails Camelback Resort is adding for the 2026-27 season. LehighValleyLive reported that this is the resort's first terrain expansion in three decades and brings Camelback to 45 trails, more than any other ski resort in the Poconos. Each of the three trails is a line the mountain already had: an old ride, a trail that grew over, and a lift line that was too steep to ski until now.
General manager Jason Bays laid out the reasoning in a September interview with Storm Skiing. During last winter's natural snowfall, he said, he was "acutely paying attention to where people were skiing," and he followed some of those lines himself. He also said Camelback doesn't have much room for regular trails, so the goal was something more distinctive than another groomed boulevard.
The Alpine Slide Chute Becomes a Black Diamond
The first trail is the one that starts this post. In the Storm Skiing interview, Bays said the old Alpine Slide "back in the day did have several dips and curves." The resort plans to "lean into those dips and curves" so skiers can catch some air or just carve over them. He said that kind of terrain variation is something "most trails at Camelback don't have."
Where it sits matters as much as how it skis. The new black gives skiers a route from Basilisk to John Bailey. Bays said anyone coming off Asp, Hump, Rocket or Basilisk can reach it, which means the expert side of the mountain gets a more interesting way back down. According to Unofficial Networks, the natural features on this trail are being left in place.
A Walter Foger Trail Comes Back Through the Pines
The second trail goes back further. It cuts through the woods off skier's left of Upper Cleopatra and comes out at the bottom of Big Pocono. Bays told Storm Skiing it was a trail "back in the 60s and 70s, fun fact, when Walter Foger was designing Camelback." Since then it "got filled in with pine trees." The resort cut the new trail narrow so the pines on both sides could stay.
Bays compared the feel he's after to the wooded blues at the bottom of Jay Peak in Vermont, on a much smaller scale: twists and turns that make you feel like you're in the trees, and "not terribly steep."
This is the trail most Camelback regulars will notice, even if they never ski it. Bays said it "takes traffic off of Honeymoon Lane, which is a main boulevard," and moves it onto the Sphinx, which can comfortably carry more skiers. So a trail added for fun is also a fix for one of the mountain's busiest routes.
It also comes with a reason to stop. On weekends, Bays said, a hot chocolate hut will sit along this trail so skiers can ski right up to it. The resort's announcement, as reported by WFMZ, describes it as a new hot chocolate bar off the trail coming from Upper Cleopatra.
The Stevenson Lift Line, Finally Skiable
The third trail is the double black. It starts at the top of the Stevenson Lift and connects down to Pharaoh's. Anyone who has ridden Stevenson knows the crest at the top, where the mountain rolls over steeply right under the chair. Bays described the trail as dropping off the Cliffhanger side and following the lift line down, calling it "very much Vermont skiing" in a short stretch and "an intimidating drop."
He said the resort will make snow on it, and that the narrow trail has "a really great expansive view over the Pocono Mountains." Unofficial Networks called it a steep, narrow run that should be great on powder days.
Here are all three side by side:
| New trail | Rating | Route | What it brings back |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under Black Bear 6 | Black diamond | Basilisk to John Bailey | The rolling chute of the old Alpine Slide |
| Off Upper Cleopatra | Blue square | Upper Cleopatra to the bottom of Big Pocono | A 1960s-70s Foger-era trail that grew over with pines |
| Stevenson lift line | Double black diamond | Top of Stevenson Lift to Pharaoh's | The steep crest under the Stevenson chair |
None of the three has a final name yet. In September, Camelback asked the public to suggest names, and Unofficial Networks reported that naming a few existing connector runs also helps bring the official count to 45.
The Old Double That Holds the Expansion Together
Two of the new trails pour skiers toward John Bailey and Big Pocono. That makes the least exciting item in the announcement one of the most important: the Bailey Lift is scheduled to run on opening day with a new gearbox.
Bailey is an old, slow double chair that runs almost parallel to Black Bear 6 and doesn't reach quite as high, according to Storm Skiing host Stuart Winchester's description during the interview. Bays said in the same conversation that Bailey, Meadows and Raceway weren't ready for opening day last season. Bailey came back at the end of January, ran two or three weekends, and then its gearbox failed. This off-season the resort replaced the gearbox and did full preventive maintenance over the summer.
"It is a critical backup lift. We will run it every weekend," Bays told Storm Skiing. He added that Bailey matters because if Black Bear is down, it's the only other way up that part of the mountain. He also said lift availability and reliability were what both locals and out-of-town guests raised most last season, and that the resort is trying to get ahead of it this year.
The refresh also shows up from the road. Every Camelback lift has been repainted evergreen, which the resort calls part of a broader effort to refresh the mountain while keeping the character of the Pocono landscape.
A Seat by the Lesson Trail
The other new spot is for families. Alpine Outpost is a new food-and-beverage stop on the Coolmoor teaching trail, where most of Camelback's ski and snowboard lessons happen. LehighValleyLive reported that it's designed so parents and guests can get food and drinks while they watch lessons. For a Tannersville family with a child in lessons this winter, that changes where a Saturday morning on the mountain is spent.
Before the Lifts Turn
The new terrain comes after a strong year. Camelback had the longest ski season in the region last winter, opening first and closing last among Pocono ski areas, according to LehighValleyLive. Over the next few weeks, the resort and Pocono Township have a short run of events in Tannersville:
- Saturday, November 14, 2 p.m.: Pocono Township's holiday movie afternoon at the township conference room, 205 Old Mill Road. Ugly-sweater ornament making and a Handprint Tree that will be displayed at TLC Park through the season start at 2 p.m., and The Grinch starts at 3 p.m. Registration is required.
- Saturday, November 14, 5 to 9 p.m.: ULLR Fest at Camelback's Thirsty Camel, which marks the official start of the Pocono ski season. Expect food, drinks, live music, wood carving, ski decorating, a bonfire and a drone show. Admission is free. This is the 11th annual festival.
- December 4 to 18, 4 to 8 p.m.: Free appearances by Santa and Mrs. Claus at Camelback.
- Saturday, December 5: Pocono Township's Mistletoe Market and Tree Lighting at TLC Park, 2658 PA-715. The market runs from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. in heated tents with local vendors and a free holiday basket raffle. The tree lighting from 6 to 8 p.m. includes live reindeer, music, s'mores and a mailbox for letters to Santa.
ULLR Fest on November 14 is the first chance this season to stand at the base and look up at a mountain with three more lines on it than last year.
Bob Kelly and the Kelly Realty Group team keep track of what's changing on Camelback and across Tannersville, from new trails to the township calendar. If you're weighing what being near the mountain means for a home you own or one you're thinking about, schedule your free Poconos market consultation.
