Travel Review: Camp for Families at Woodloch in the PA Poconos #Woodloch

There’s a little hidden gem of a resort in the northern Poconos of Pennsylvania. It’s called Woodloch and you may have heard of it if you’re from the area. If you haven’t been, you can’t possibly understand the wonder and fun that exists there. Not until you go. And then you’ll never want to leave.

Woodloch is a family-run business and they have two main resorts – the Lodge at Woodloch and Woodloch Resort. They also have a golf resort but this review will be about Woodloch, which is the family resort. I’ve previously been to the Lodge at Woodloch, which is more of a relaxing drink-wine and go-to-the-spa experience for adults only. You can read my review of the Lodge here.

The best way I can think to describe Woodloch is that it’s an all-inclusive camp for families. Set on Lake Teedyuskung with the Poconos woods all around, it’s just a gorgeous location for a quick family getaway.

There’s so much to do and see here so I’ll try and cover as much as I can. Here’s some facts to know about the Woodloch experience:

It’s all-inclusive, so you get your meals and most activities. You’ll pay extra for alcohol and special activities you may be interested in, like taking a Segway tour or doing an Escape Room experience (aptly named Loch’d In). Most activities were included, though.

It’s set on a lake so there’s TONS of lake-related activities in the summer months. There are stand up paddle boards, sail boats and paddle boats you can take out at no cost during lake hours. There’s a slide into the lake and plenty of space to swim in an area that’s blocked off and monitored by lifeguards. There are also regular boat tours and water skiing.

There’s plenty of non-lake related activities too. Like, so many that it’s insane and most of the families seem to come for THESE activities more so than the lake itself! I’ll tell you about those in a minute.

For standard activities, there’s Go-Karts (for littles and bigger kids/adults), Bumper boats, Bumper cars, an indoor playground, an outdoor playground, horseshoes, bocce, archery, Ziplining, indoor arcades… and so much more that I couldn’t possibly list it all. But rest assured, there’s something for everyone here from toddlers up to Grandma.

So now the organized non-lake activities is the piece that gets really cool. Each day, you sit down to breakfast and there’s an activity sheet printed out and placed on your table. (You have the same table in the dining room for your entire stay, making it feel more like a “home away from home.”)

The activity sheet lists all the activities for the day. There are things like a Family Scavenger Hunt, Family X-Games and Double Dare. There are repeat families who come to these and take them VERY seriously. We met one couple with their college-aged daughter who were on their 20th year and had brought a bag full of goodies to prep for the Scavenger Hunt. They told us most families are like this but they are always welcoming to newbies and everyone breaks up into groups.

Going for the Gold: Many of group activities are competitions and have medals. It’s all in fun but it’s competitive and the kids just love it. My guys actually won gold at an Archery Tag contest and they wore their medals the entire day and all sorts of people came up to them asking what they won for.

Evening activities: There’s some form of entertainment every night. Most of it is family-friendly but there were a few things that were specific to ages. (The second night we were there, they had a haunted woods tour which was 13+) We were at Woodloch for two nights and we went to the Nightclub both nights.

The first night they had A Night At the Musicals and it was a fabulous performance from some really talented folks who sang songs from Broadway and Hollywood favorites.The second night we went to horse racing where we placed $1 bets on wooden horses who moved based on dice roles and everyone had a BLAST. We even took home a few bucks!

Keep in mind we spent three days and two nights only at Woodloch. And even still, I’m having trouble figuring out how to list everything we saw and did just in those two days. This is NOT a vacation you would ever be bored on.

But here’s the thing too. If that all sounds tiring and crazy to you, there’s always the option to chill by the lake or one of their pools. While there’s definitely a bustle of activity going on, that’s the beauty of this place – you make of it what you will.

Also? I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the family-friendly and just general welcoming-vibe everyone has going here. From the staff being owners and children of owners and just downright nice, the guests were also amazing! Almost everyone we met would ask us, “so how many years have you been coming?” At first we were confused, we’d respond, “this is our first visit?” and they would be THRILLED. Most people we met were visiting for 10, 20+ years annually. We actually never met anyone who was a first time visitor so I feel like that says something – people love it here! It’s just familiar, welcoming, beautiful and fun.

We’ll most definitely be back. It took us 3 hours to drive to Woodloch from our ‘burb west of Philadelphia. It’s even closer to New York – supposedly a 2-hour drive from Manhattan.

Visit Woodloch.com for more info. We may try a visit in the fall or winter – apparently they have a whole other family of fall and winter activities if you come during those seasons!

I’ll leave you with a few more photos of various activities and experiences we had while at Woodloch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Disclaimer: We were hosted for two nights at Woodloch to facilitate this review. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.