Skytop draws attention both to a historic house and to a landscape with a lake, waterfall, and hiking trails. When choosing the destination, you can first distinguish between history, nature, and specific activities. Skytop’s points of interest include the main building’s year of construction, the dimensions of the lake and trails, as well as ice skating, skiing, golf, and rock climbing. This lets you plan your stay around the things that genuinely interest you.
History on Skytop Lake
Skytop Lodge opened on June 16, 1928. Its main building is a stone mansion from the same year, built in the Dutch Colonial style, overlooking Skytop Lake. Its year of construction, materials, and architectural style give the building a distinct character, while the view of the lake connects it directly to the surrounding landscape. If you are interested in architecture, the date, style, and setting are all clearly identified.
Historical tours led by the hotel historian offer another way to explore the lodge’s history. They provide a different focus from looking at the building’s year of construction and architecture.
Trails, Water, and Landscape
At Skytop Lodge, you can explore 5,500 acres; nearly 4,500 acres of the lodge are protected under Pennsylvania’s “Clean and Green” program. These figures describe different aspects: the area designated for exploration and the protection status of the lodge’s land. There are also nearly 30 miles of hiking trails, offering another measure of the landscape’s scale.
Skytop Lake covers 75 acres. The West Rim Trail reaches an elevation of about 1,900 feet and offers a lookout point. Indian Ladder Falls is a three-tiered waterfall at the end of a hiking trail. These are distinct landscape features to help you find your bearings: the lake’s area, the elevation and lookout on the West Rim Trail, and the waterfall’s tiers and location at the end of the trail.
Activities for Every Season
Every winter, the pavilion at Skytop Lodge is converted into an ice rink, with skating sessions offered daily. The Ski Hill is on the opposite side of Skytop Lake, at the intersection of Dutch Hill Road and Route 390. You can reach it by car, shuttle, or a 15-minute walk along the Lake Trail. Skytop’s mountain has two downhill runs from the lower lift station. This makes it easy to distinguish between ice skating at the pavilion and skiing at the hill as separate winter activities.
Golf is also clearly defined: Skytop Lodge has an 18-hole championship course measuring 6,656 yards. The number of holes describes the course’s size in terms of holes, while the yardage indicates its length. Both help you consider golf as a distinct focus alongside hiking or winter sports.
The Adventure Center offers rock climbing and is open to everyone, including those who are not guests of Skytop Lodge. It is located at 815 Dutch Hill Road in Skytop, about a mile along Route 390 from Skytop Lodge. The address identifies the center’s location within Skytop; the approximate mile along Route 390 describes its road distance from the lodge.
Discover more destinations: Delaware Water Gap, Tannersville, Pocono Summit, Canadensis, Stroudsburg, Scotrun, Mt Pocono, Bartonsville.
For the broader travel overview: Monroe.
