Imagine sitting on a comfortable lawn chair, sipping a warm cup of cocoa. Before you is a glass-still lake. Birds chirp, flowers bloom, and you feel calm. After your beverage, you go to the building behind you for a breakout session.
This scene doesn’t just happen on vacations; it can take place at a meeting if you venture to the East Coast mountain regions; namely to the Poconos, Berkshires and Adirondacks. In these spots, groups can get away from concrete jungles and venture into the mountain wild with team-building activities and reception venues among the trees. Add attractive meeting venues and friendly municipalities to the mix and you have the perfect formula for a productive, rejuvenating event.
Pocono Mountain Region
“The mountain air really clears your head,” says David M. Jackson, CMP, director of sales for the Pocono Mountains CVB. “We are close to major metro areas but feel like we’re a world away. It’s incredibly beautiful.”
Downtown Stroudsburg dates back to the early 1800s. Visitors can take in the area’s charm by strolling down Main Street and poking into restaurants and art galleries. Just 40 miles east in Carbon County is Jim Thorpe, an adorable town lined with cobblestone streets. Beyond the region’s downtown areas, there are full-service resorts.
The largest of the bunch is Split Rock Resort & Golf Club in Lake Harmony. It offers 600 guest rooms, 77,000 square feet of meeting space, three restaurants, 27 holes of golf, an indoor water park and a bowling alley.
Just 40 miles west in Bushkill, groups will find Fernwood Resort. It has more than 800 villas, guest rooms and guest suites, and 60,000 square feet of meeting space. Adventure-seeking groups can take part in horseback riding through the mountains, skiing and snow tubing.
In Pocono Manor, groups can head to The Inn at Pocono Manor, which sits on 3,000 acres. In addition to 250 guest rooms and 20,000 square feet of meeting space, it offers dog sledding and ice fishing in the winter, horseback riding and fly fishing in the summer.
Woodloch rounds out the region. Located in Hawley, the sprawling property (offering a variety of accommodations and meeting space for up to 600 guests) sits on Lake Teedyuskung—within the Poconos—a good backdrop for fishing excursions, scavenger hunts and naturalist tours.
Beyond the region’s resorts is an off-site venue: Malibu Dude Ranch.
“In Milford, Malibu Dude Ranch can host companies and associations for team-building and meetings,” Jackson says.