After spending Saturday at Elk, we decided to try a new place on the way home. Eagle Rock is just off 81 near Hazleton, which puts it right on the drive back from most of the other resort in northeast PA.
Skiing is just one activity at Eagle Rock and is part of a larger resort. This does make arrival a little different from most places. You have to stop at the guard shack and get a permit for the skia area. After getting ours we drove past the golf cart crossing and into the ski area parking lot. We arrived at 9:20 and were approximately car 15 in the lot. Crowds are not a problem here. Here's a shot of a typical lift line from the morning.
In the afternoon it started getting busier. We might have had to wait behind as many as 4 people for a chair.
The main lodge with a cafeteria, ski school, rental shop, and small cafeteria are at the top of the mountain. There is also a small second lodge at the base with a bar and restaurant that open around noon.
The mountain is about 550 vertical feet. The top half is a series of easy green using about 100 feet of that vertical. The mountain then blows the remaining 450 feet all at once on three legitimate black diamonds. Two that have some nice curves and rolling terrain and the steepest straight down the face under the main lift.
One side of this trail was left ungroomed, but unfortunately, there weren't actually enough skiers to push that snow into moguls.
Rounding out the bottom half of the mountain are a winding green on one side and a blue that doubles as the terrain park on the other.
Overall it's a nice little mountain that worth a day, but probably not any longer. It compares well against smaller places like Liberty, Roundtop, Big Boulder, or Jack Frost. Though Frost is a bit bigger.
Eagle Rock has one other thing going for it. Prices. A full day ticket is only $42 and food in the restaurant at the base is very reasonable, $6 for a freshly made burger with fries and a pickle. And table service.
