7 Secluded Towns In The Poconos

The Pocono Mountains catch most of their press for the resorts, but the small towns between them run a different operation. Bushkill keeps its waterfalls and the Niagara of Pennsylvania nickname intact a short walk from the highway. Jim Thorpe extends the same out-of-the-way logic with Victorian streets named for the Native American Olympic athlete buried there. Honesdale adds American commercial railroading as a local origin story dating to 1829. The seven secluded Pocono towns ahead each work the back-roads side of the range.

Tannersville

Tannersville traces back to roughly 1750 and sits at the foot of Camelback Mountain Resort. Winter brings the skiing and snowboarding crowds. Summer pivots the same resort to water park territory, with the Aquatopia indoor complex and outdoor slides at Camelbeach. Main Street along Route 611 stays year-round with smaller operators like Pocono Farm Stand, Jasmin Jewelry, and Smuggler's Cove Seafood. The Pocono Township Carnival each July fills the lot near the firehouse with rides, music, and food for the surrounding townships.

Bushkill

Bushkill picked up the Niagara of Pennsylvania nickname from the eight-waterfall network at Bushkill Falls, the privately operated park that has run as a tourist destination since 1904. The main falls drop about 100 feet across the property. Hiking trails work different loops through the gorge with stair systems built into the steep sections. The Delaware River runs adjacent to town for kayaking, fishing, and access to the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. The Country Kettle candy shop is the long-running sweets stop, and the Bushkill Inn covers rustic lodging closer to the falls. The Bushkill Carnival in late spring brings rides and food booths into town.

Jim Thorpe

Jim Thorpe was called Mauch Chunk until 1954, when the borough adopted the name of the Native American Olympic athlete whose remains had been moved there the previous year. Thorpe won the pentathlon and decathlon at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics and is widely regarded as one of the greatest athletes of the 20th century. The Switzerland of America nickname goes back longer than the renaming, earned by the steep wooded ridges that wall in the river valley. The Asa Packer Mansion, an 1861 Victorian-Italianate built by the founder of the Lehigh Valley Railroad and Lehigh University, runs daily summer tours of preserved period interiors. Whitewater rafting on the Lehigh River and the 26-mile Lehigh Gorge Trail cover the outdoor side. The Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railway boards on Susquehanna Street with seasonal excursions through the gorge.

Honesdale

Honesdale claims American commercial railroading as the local origin story. The Stourbridge Lion, built in England by Foster, Rastrick & Company, made the first run of a steam locomotive on commercial track in the United States here on August 8, 1829, with engineer Horatio Allen at the controls. The Wayne County Historical Society on Main Street houses a full-size replica of the engine (built for the 1933 Chicago Century of Progress Exposition) and the broader story of the Delaware & Hudson Canal that fed it. The towpath of the old canal still runs through town with walking paths along the water. The Honesdale Roots & Rhythm Music and Arts Festival pulls regional artists in each summer with crafts, food, and live performances on the downtown blocks.

Lehighton

Lehighton sits on a bluff above the Lehigh River with a downtown that runs about four blocks along First Street. Blended Bakery handles the morning pastry-and-coffee traffic. The town calendar includes an Independence Day fireworks show and the Great Pocono Pumpkin Festival each October. Lehigh Gorge State Park starts at the north edge of town with trail access into the gorge, and the D&L National Heritage Trail follows the old canal corridor through the area for 165 miles between Wilkes-Barre and Bristol. Beltzville State Park ten miles east opens its 949-acre lake for summer swimming and boating.

Delaware Water Gap

The Delaware Water Gap is the slot the Delaware River cuts through the Appalachian Mountains, and the small town on the Pennsylvania side shares the name. The Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area covers the gorge on both banks of the river with hiking trails, fishing access, and kayak launches. The Castle Inn on Main Street, once a turreted summer hotel originally built in 1906, now houses local retail and craft shops behind its preserved Victorian facade. The Deer Head Inn is one of the longest-running jazz clubs in the country, operating at its original location since 1954 with weekend sets year-round. The COTA Jazz and Arts Festival each September fills the town with live music as fall color hits the ridges.

Stroudsburg

Stroudsburg is the largest town in the Poconos at about 6,000 residents and still feels low-key once you step off Main Street. Local cafes, restaurants, and shops line the central blocks, with Dunkleberger's Outfitters as the long-running gear store for hikers and anglers. The Monroe County Historical Association keeps the 1795 Stroud Mansion as a museum on the corner of Main and Ninth, with rotating exhibits on early Pocono settlement and the Stroud family that founded the town. StroudFest, the annual music and arts celebration each September, takes over the downtown for a weekend.

Back-Country Stops in the Poconos

The Poconos pull big numbers at the resorts every season, but the seven towns above keep operating on their own quieter calendar. The mix runs across geology and history: jazz at Delaware Water Gap, waterfalls at Bushkill, the Stourbridge Lion replica at Honesdale, and the Asa Packer Mansion at Jim Thorpe. Each town carries enough small-business and cultural ballast to fill a weekend without needing the resort circuit at all.