User:Mikalac53/sandbox/Pocono Mountains

New article name goes here new article content ... The Pocono Mountains, or simply the Poconos, comprise a region continguous with the Glaciated Pocono Plateau Section located in northeastern Pennsylvania. [citation 2 http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/topogeo/field/map13/13gpoc/index.htm] and verified by the text below the map: “Map of Pennsylvania showing the Glaciated Pocono Plateau Section, also known as the Poconos.”. The Poconos are shared by six counties: Monroe, Pike, Wayne, Lackawanna, Luzerne, and Carbon. [citation 3 ... .] They are picturesque and therefore have become a famous tourist destination. Many of these visitors have chosen to stay in expanding permanent communities. Some organizations, especially those associated with the tourism industry, have their own versions of the Poconos, but these are arbitrary owing to the fact that the entire northeastern Pennsylvania is covered with low-level mountains, as is much of the state.

The name “Pocono” is said to be a corruption of the Lenape (Delaware) Native American word “Pokhannen”, which means “a creek between two hills” [citation 4, http://www.gilwell.com/lenape/p.htm], but because the region has many creeks and rivers interspersed among many hills and mountains, one cannot identify any specific waterway associated with this name, the largest of them being the Lehigh River. Pocono may even refer to nearby waterways near the Poconos, such as the Delaware and Susquehanna Rivers. No one really knows.

The approximate population of the Poconos is about ..., as derived from the 2010 US census of ... townships and boroughs that lie mostly on the plateau. The largest community is Mountain Top (10,982 per 2010 census). The Pocono area is ... square miles (... sq. km.), as determined by ... . The largest cities near the Poconos are Scranton (77,118), Wilkes-Barre (40,780), and Hazleton (24,825) per the 2015 US Census Bureau.

Its varied elevations make it hard to describe Pocono weather with much accuracy. Temperatures, rainfall, and snowfall range between ..., ..., ... respectively, based on averages of ... weather stations in ... . Temperature, precipitation, and wind velocities change with elevation, so winter travelers are advised to be prepared for anything.

The Poconos are a recreational destination for tourists from many places, although residents of New York City and Philadelphia top the list according to a private 2017 survey of ... public lodgings. Summer weather favors daytime outdoors sports, such as sight-seeing, hiking, golf, tennis, boating, fishing, hunting, and swimming. Day and night skiing, tobagganing, sledding, ice skating, and snowboarding are available in the winter. The larger hotels offer music, dance, bowling, curling, pools, hot tubs, and more for those who prefer the indoors. Most of the larger hotels have kiddie playgrounds. Gambling is illegal in the Poconos.

Pocono lodging is provided by many hotels, motels, B&Bs, camps, and cabins that fit every budget. Their websites contain amenity information and some of them publish customer comments. Popular lodgings are sold out months in advance. Guided by the above map [citation 3], visitors can use online map websites to show Pocono places of interest. Big Pocono (Camelback Mountain) Overlook, Buck Hill Falls, Great Falls of the Lehigh, Hickory Run Boulder Field, High Knob, Indian Ladder Falls, Low Knob, Mount Pocono Overlook, Prospect Rock, Split Rock, and The Devils Hole are outstanding Pocono scenic areas. The highest Pocono peak is Big Pocono at 2133 ft. State parks are the eastern part of Hickory Run, Gouldsboro, Tobyhanna, Big Pocono and Promised Land. [citation 4, http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/topogeo/field/map13/13gpoc/index.htm]. Park websites provide ample visitor information.

Sources

Mikalac53 (talk) 15:48, 3 April 2017 (UTC) mikalac53: this is a draft to be completed.