NJ Transit is rebuilding trackage on the Lackawanna Cut-Off route from Scranton through the Poconos to Hoboken, New Jersey.

The Pocono Mountains is a defined area encompassing portions of Carbon, Monroe, Pike, and southern Wayne Counties in Pennsylvania.

[citation needed] Some definitions also extend the Poconos to Lackawanna, Luzerne, eastern Schuylkill, and Susquehanna Counties.

During the winter months, the plant hardiness zone is 5b with an average annual extreme minimum air temperature of −13.1 °F (−25.1 °C).

Ice storms and large snowstorms depositing ≥ 12 inches (30 cm) of snow occur nearly every year, particularly during nor’easters from December through March.

During the winter months, the plant hardiness zone is 5b with an average annual extreme minimum air temperature of −10.1 °F (−23.4 °C).

Ice storms and large snowstorms depositing ≥ 12 inches (30 cm) of snow occur nearly every year, particularly during nor’easters from December through March.

The average wettest month is September which correlates with tropical storm remnants during the peak of the Atlantic hurricane season.

During the winter months, the plant hardiness zone is 6a with an average annual extreme minimum air temperature of −5.4 °F (−20.8 °C).

Ice storms and large snowstorms depositing ≥ 12 inches (30 cm) of snow occur once every couple of years, particularly during nor’easters from December through March.

[12] Alaback also adds some additional criteria to the definition of a temperate rainforest as having at least 10% of its average annual precipitation during the summer months, cool and frequently overcast summers with average July temperature less than 16 degrees Celsius (60.8 degrees Fahrenheit), and forest fires or wildifres rare and do not play an important role in the forest ecosystem.

[6] During the Revolutionary War in 1779, General John Sullivan marched his troops through the Pocono Mountains (Monroe and Luzerne counties) on their expedition to fight the Iroquois tribe in New York State.

[19] The Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area is on the eastern edge of the Poconos and includes 70,000 acres (280 km2) of wilderness.

[23] The Quakers "brought a quiet, unostentatious style to the region,"[23] but their hotels later developed from religious retreats into "luxurious mountain resorts.

[23] Skytop offers 30 miles (48 km) of hiking trails, and the main building "is surrounded by 5,000 acres (20 km2) of wood, glacial bogs, hemlock gorges, beaver marshes, and cascading waterfalls.

"[25] Novelist Faith Baldwin wrote about her 1932 visit to Skytop, "Here are friendly mountains, round-breasted, smiling in the clear, rosy light of dawn.

[29][30] Bandleader Fred Waring purchased the resort in 1943, renamed it the Shawnee Inn, and broadcast his radio shows from there.

[34][36][37] Tamiment Playhouse entertained resort guests with an original revue every Saturday night during the 10-week summer season, and many prominent Broadway and TV figures gained experience there.

[41][42] In 1945 retired New York executive Rudolf Van Hoevenberg established the first honeymoon resort in the Pocono Mountains, Farm on the Hill.

[44][45] Sally Moore of Snow Country wrote, "Far from today's sybaritic accommodations, back then the rustic cabins required new brides to make the beds and tidy up while grooms helped with the dishes and did the heavy work.

"[45] By 1960, the Pocono Mountains rivaled Niagara Falls as a honeymoon destination, attracting 100,000 couples a year.

[46] Morris Wilkins, co-owner of Cove Haven, invented the heart-shaped bathtub in 1963 as a way to lure honeymoon customers.

[47][50][51] Author Lawrence Squeri wrote in 2002, "If Americans today are asked to name the image that best represents the Poconos, chances are that many will cite couples resorts and heart-shaped bathtubs..."[47] Mount Airy Lodge expanded from an eight-room inn into the largest Pocono resort.

[52] It heavily advertised in the New York media market with the catchy jingle, "Beautiful Mount Airy Lodge.

"[53] Headliners, such as Bob Hope, Milton Berle, and Connie Francis, performed in the Crystal Room, Mount Airy's 2,000-seat theater.

The owner, Louis DeNaples, was later charged with perjury due to suspected ties with organized crime figures.

The two NASCAR weekends at Pocono are vital to the region for the tourism money it brings to the local economy.

[58][59][60] In the winter of 1956–57 he invented a machine "resembling a lawn sprinkler atop a sled" to generate artificial snow.

Joyce Gemperlein of The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote, "Until Guresh perfected snowmaking at Big Boulder, skiing in the Poconos was a relatively minor sport."

Blue Mountain Moments is a monthly publication covering the Route 903 corridor from Blakeslee to Jim Thorpe.