Vernon Valley/ Great Gorge Ski Area Reviews

Love this place. So worth the annual membership, especially if you have kids. Hidden treasure in the mountains of Jersey!

It is one of the best snowboarding places I have ever been to. I learned how to snowboard here and learned tricks. The staff is nice and helpful.

Love this mountain and Schuss restaurant. Always have a great time here except when a ski patrol person decided to yell at my husband for losing his board. It was his first time snowboarding and didn't realize how quickly you can lose your board. I was extremely disappointed in this individuals lack of professionalism and understanding. I'm hoping that next visit will be more pleasant.

Had a bad experience snow tubing. The website advertises that basically anyone can snow tube. The first and only time I went down the hill, I went so fast that I flew off my tube. I impacted so hard. They need to have more snow, less grass, and the inflatable barrier needs to be lower down, not up an incline. I lost my sunglasses and ripped my jacket. All other adults I saw that were going down today were also flying into the inflatable barrier way too fast. An adult male went so fast that he too came off his tube and the tube went over the protective netting. Someone is going to break their neck. Kids had no problem going down because they don t weigh much so they don t gain much momentum going down the hill. This isn t safe for adults. I spent $30 to go down once and crash hard. Now I have to buy a new jacket too.

When it comes to food, more attention needs to given. My girlfriend fries was cold and at same time another woman had the same issue. The staff took both of their fries, mixed it together and threw it in the same basket to warm them up in the oil. Who does that? The condiments on the table had flies all over them, there was only 1 table clean enough to eat on. Then in the icecream parlour there was a young lady wearing gloves but playing with her hair ready to serve .
On one of the rides the attendant didn't regulate ppl jumping the line to avoid conflict.
The place seems very rundown and in need of renovations. Even the mats for one of the rides need TLC.

Nice small mountain, great for kids, those just learning or to begin the season before hitting a bigger and more expensive ski area. Kids had a great time snow tubing.

Been here a few times for racing events and skiing. Was an absolutely lovely time. Great area and it was very enjoyable!

A quick drive away from nyc and some great terrain parks make this a great hill to practice freestyle anytime.

This place was a bit out of the way, but I promise you it is worth the drive. The place was so blissful and you instantly feel relaxed as soon as you pull up to the property.

Great bike park however, 4 stars out of 5 stars due to no soap in the bathroom. They expect us to follow all these corona virus rules but can't keep their soap dispensers filled.

Best day spent at the water park. Awesome rides. All those extremely thrilling rides are must try. In fact, they ll do tempting that you will do them more than once. Plan to reach early, your time will be spent worthwhile. Staff were friendly and life guards are present in every ride. Colorado river rapids is must try

Shout out to instructor Evan F. who made my snowboarding experience so much fun.

Leaving a review as a first time skier/snowboarder.

This place was great. The staff is friendly and knowledgeable. The food options are limited but good (can get very busy as you can imagine). And while there seems to be a line for everything, it moves fast.

The instructors are nice and helpful. Just make sure you come with plenty of time. Good for families, groups, couples, or solo trips.

Great for MTB. Expensive food. Limited space for non riders. In that case bring your own chair!

Bring a lock if you want to store your gear on the shelf while going in the lodge. My friend just lost his snowboard while we were having lunch. We asked to check the camera but were told it was broken. I believe that is part of the reason the thieves dare to steal people s gear there.

A nice ski resort which is pretty close to the NYC and Jersey City area. The place has decent number of ski slopes and pretty good training program as well. The training and other stuff has normal pricing. However it becomes pretty crowded because if the proximity to the NYC area. Do check the status of their snow depth online before visiting.

I had a lot of fun! I did not expect to have that much fun. The rides were awesome. I went on a weekday so the lines were short. They have drinks if you wish to have one. The staff is very chill and the landscape is amazing. It's a flat fee which I liked. Do not bring anything, maybe a towel, but if it's warm its cool. You'll need to get a locker if you bring anything. Food was great too!

Good mountain, they had some issues with my tickets. Somehow they changed my girlfriends name sometime between us buying the tickets and redeeming them on-site. They also hit some of us with a surprise early shutdown of the only lift that takes me back to the north peak where I parked.

Great place to ski, lots of different trails. Probably not the most beginner friendly park but great if you have at least a little bit of experience. Save time and money by buying tickets online instead of at the ticket window.

Apparently, if there is a special event like a concert being held at the main Lodge near the slopes you will be kicked out unless you have a wristband for the event. So, if you have children on the slope you will be bused 1 mile down the road to sit there while your kids no matter what ages they are are left to fend for themselves. I was told I can go sit in the bar section upstairs which I did. Since we had Twilight tickets the kids were going to spend a little longer in the evening getting the most of the evening. At around 8 p.m. a man came to us and said we were not allowed to sit upstairs any longer that it would be close to us at 8 p.m. and we had to leave. When I challenge the idea that it was wrong to move us the manager told me that it was written on the website. I asked where? He said under special events. So basically if you want to know if you can hang out in the main Lodge you need to go under special events I think for it yourself even though you have no prior knowledge of any kind of policy that says you would be removed. Mountain Creek is run by a bunch of Thieves. I tried to purchase tickets and made the mistake of not buying one lift and one rental ticket together. I was told it was too difficult on the phone to get it redone. So I ended up buying the rental equipment ticket from the window at Mountain Creek. I will never come back to this place again. We are just a bunch of dollar signs and they have no consideration for families with young children and adults who watch those young children and for some reason or another cannot be on the slope with their kids. Worst place ever to ski. Never coming back. And to make something clear my criticism does not reflect on the staff or the waiters or waitresses or even the managers they were all very kind. Upper management this message is for you.

Came here with 40 students. Staff were super nice, friendly, and professional. However it was packed full of people, most of whom were on edge and a bit rude because of how crowded it was and the extra long lines. (But that is to he expected on a Sunday)

A lot of great stuff here though. Food is pretty decent, fireplace, firepit outside (one of the benches was a bit dangerous to sit on because it was broken. Sit on it and you slide towards the pit.) And several slopes to ski on. I didnt go skiing but my students had a good time and said the slopes were good.

3 stars because people were allowed to leave their ski equipment and bags on tables inside and go skiing. Made it hard for others to get a table to eat, rest, and warm up.

If you are just here with family, friends or a group and not here to ski, there's no place to really get away from the crowds and relax so go early to get a spot before it fills up with equipment and bags. Again, there is a bar area and a restaurant to sit in, but I was told I could only sit there if I was going to order something.

Some people were nice enough to share their tables though.

Overall.... great place to ski but go during the week to skip the crowds.

Update: sat at a table that had equipment sitting on it for hours with no one there. People came back after I had been sitting there for awhile and tried to bully me away. I asked to share but they weren't happy to share with one person. (Students were all out skiing)Now the woman is sitting on the table and rocking it to get me to move.

Not the best for reviewing this as I am beginner but for me the experience was good.

A great place to ski, board and tube. Friendly and helpful personnel.

We ran the Spartan Super, the 2nd leg of the Spartan Trifecta here. The terrain was every bit the challenge that would be expected from a ski resort mountain course. Each of us twisted our ankles twice but were still able to jump the fire at the end. AROO...

All rides are awesome
But need some more activities.

This year the adult night was not good .I think they did so well last year that they boost the prices for the tickets charge for parking ,they had the pool block off were there was one entrance in, one entrance out so I ask a question what if I had to go to the restroom they girl said you miss your turn in wait on line again you could not bring your bags to the pool or sit on the chairs by the pool all these restrictions last years it was awesome

Mountain creek was awesome! Deff will be returning for many more adventures. Cannot say enough how much i enjoyed this place and its alot closer to home than most of the pocono resorts

Peter Salo an instructor gave us very good tips and was really friendly and helpful! It was actually the very first time my husband and I went skiing and we had a great experience!

We will definitely come back!
Thank you Peter and the mountain creek crew.

Eli

Always busy, decent condition, but at least it's close and open!

Great place. The only problem for now is that some of the pool areas are close.

This place is so much fun! Cliff jump is definitely my favorite feature at the park. I have yet to find another waterpark that let's you jump off something 20 feet high into a really deep pool of water. Hope to make a visit this summer!

Very nice for a small ski area, but long lines on weekends and holidays. Parking is a pain, but they do have shuttles. Not enough dining space.

Well, I'll keep it brief and confidential... it was not one of my best massages. And I drove 2hrs to get there by a friend's recommendation. Needless to say, I won't be going back.

Favorite mountain. Great for kids always a lot of trails for a smaller mountain. Night skiing is great!

Terrific resort. Great in the summer or the winter. Great skiing and snowboarding and excellent downhills in the winter and great trails for hiking and biking and excellent events in the summer. Check out the summer Spartan beast. It is not to be missed.

We were on the south mountain and all of the sudden without any notice the man at the lift closed the connection chairlift to get back to north mountain, where we parked. The man was named Ron, he had a really bad attitude and was very rude to all of us. The sign said lift closing at 7:30 and Ron, without letting anyone know, closed the lift at 6:30, leaving all of us and multiple other people stranded on south mountain. I highly recommend choosing another ski resort as the people here are very rude and inconsiderate. Skiing was decent but trails were poorly groomed and as said before the workers were extremely rude.

Booked a trip for this upcoming weekend. Unfortunately had to cancel do to illness. Hotel refund no problem, but could not be reimbursed or even get a credit for the day lift passes we bought. Double check cancellation policies before you purchase passes. I could see not giving a monetary refund, but they should add an option to receive a credit on mysnowcloud if canceling withing 48hrs to use at another time. I will not book again for this reason.

The lift was closed an hour earlier than the sign said and we where stuck at south side with no way back to north and the guy at the lift was very rude and didn t wanna help us we had to wait nearly an hour to get back to north side of the mountain there was very poor communication between the mountain and nobody seemed to know what to do finally we where taken in some employee car back to north after waiting nearly an hour we where squeezed into a tiny car with all our equipment I recommend a different ski resort due to poor service as well as very bad grooming

I enjoyed my day. It was fun for my entire family. But wear comfortable shoes there are hills, hills and more hills... But, you will love the water rides..

Very icy. Never taken the lessons, so I can't comment on that. The lines are atrocious though. If you want some nice pow, head up to New England or out west.

Great Place visit! Wide open spaces and cozy rooms!

Lots of walking up/down hills. Rides were good, more closed than website listed. Full bars and good food. Website also failed to tell us that the park would be closing an hour early for off season. Witnessed more that one fist fight and lots of line cutting. Ahh New Jersey, stay classy!

Great and chilled place, decent amount of lifts, snow quality is fine.

Recommended

Good hill - the best of the bunch in the 90 min drive from NYC category. Snow was good, some moderate steeps. Lift lines big, but move fast with the exception of the quad at the beginner hill, where you wait a long time on a Saturday. Spent the night, was a good experience.

It was awesome. The only issue I had, they couldn't print out or email me a receipt.

Never had a problem, been there for the water park and snowboard and had a great experience. Be aware there is one employee in a bad mood at the cafeteria (cashier(white chick)) and do not leave your nike sandals around because customers will steal it. other than that you will have a blast!

This is the closest descent place to ski and snowboard from NYC. The trails are usually groomed well. You can ride across 3 mountains with a variety of terrain. The Cabriolet (main) lift is pretty quick to get you to Vernon Peak. South has a lot of jumps and park terrain. The Sojourn lift back to Granite Peak is the longest lift, I recommend bringing coffee/tea and a good friend to pass the time with.

You can find tickets at a decent price on Liftopia (app or website) 1 day lift ticket + food is usually your best option.

Very little snow as we simply have not had cold weather. Resort wasn't crowded on Christmas eve, but with only a few runs open we did the same run repeatedly. The lift requires removal of skis or snowboard every time. By the end of the day, that becomes tiring....

If you are an experienced downhill biker, then MCBP should definitely be near the top of you destination list. The diverse terrain presents a ton of trails with varying difficulty and the atmosphere both on the mountain and at the base will make it hard not to come back.

Great family experience, especially if you're not looking to over exert yourself going from one end of the park to the other.

Went here on the worst day. Weather was too warm and the snow became slush. But it was still fun.

Awesome DH biking and Water Park. They make the most of a small mountain. Gets crowded on weekends.

Loved it we had so much fun and the food was cheap and they have GREAT drinks I will add music in the lines but after that everything was perfect

Way overpriced and not groomed very well and the lines are out of control the staff are not known for their graciousness.

Great mountain for beginners to intermediates! Busy lines for the gondolas, but we never waited more than 3 minutes. Courteous staff, helpful instructors, friendly, safe environment for the whole family! Food was delicious, they packed our plates! (Chicken marsala, rice, broccoli). Bathrooms were kept clean, attendants very kind. Already booked another trip!

Great Spartan event venue. Will definitely return to this location for another event!

Good place for beginner skiers and great instructors.

Process & rental nightmare. Only come here if you own your own gear and buy a lift ticket online. Rentals for adults took 1 hour 40 minutes. Ski school rentals and process for kids took 1 hour 30 minutes. Not a good experience. Buildings and facility could be nice if they had trained cleaning and wait staff. Seriously only come if you can hop right on the lift from parking. Otherwise too much mess and hassle.

It's just an amazing place, I wouldn't go there if I got babies if you got kids like 10 and over is a very fun place to go if you are an adult with no kids you can go there too and ride the bicycles that's a lot of fun and enjoy Also all the rides

This is a solid mountain close to NYC but with that can come really crowded conditions. The good news is there are always quiet places to find, granite peak and bear peak. Parking at south is recommended, especially if the cross trail and lift are running.

Good enough for a local mountain. Slow start most morning and staff doesn t exactly tell you what s going on with lifts. Gets hectic midweek after school hours with all the local school teams.

Great water park. Water is very cold as others mentioned but since it was a 95 degree day, it was much appreciated. Lines werent too bad as we went on a weekday. Plus anytime you wanted you could go spend time in their huge wave pool that has plenty of room to accommodate a large crowd without feeling overcrowded.

Well purchased a Groupon to get into the waterpark and was directed to go to a line inside the waterpark instead of at the customer service before you get in the park. Where in that line for 45 minutes got up and they told us oh no you have to go to the welcome center and have your bag checked so we had to wait in that line for another 45 minutes I need this to say my taste of Mountain Creek before I even get in the park it s not pleasant. Tip if you buy a Groupon to get into the park go directly to the welcome center a little gray shack past every other line. Don t be like me

Amazing place. Nice infrastructure, good food and... the amazing staff! Went there in a group of 5. Nobody knew how to ski. All instructors were very patient and nice. Five stars for Irina, the Russian instructor!!! So kind and patient... you got a friend in her. Thank you!

Generally good conditions. The grounds crew puts in a lot of work grooming and maintaining the slopes. The main area, Vernon Peak, offers a good mix of beginner to expert trails. South Peak caters to more advanced riders. The staff (lift operators, cashiers, food court workers) are usually very friendly. Weekend rentals are a nightmare; you can often expect to wait 1.5 to 2 hours waiting on line for boots and boards/skis. I would recommend investigating renting from other local businesses (this technically disqualifies you from free instruction, but when I did it the instructors didn t care; they just want to help you have a good time on the slopes). The learning area is well staffed with qualified instructors, although it does get crazy on the weekends. Parking is annoying anywhere but South Peak, but there is a pick up/ gear drop off area at the main lodge. There are rarely enough people at guest services to check everyone in, but buying your lift tickets and signing the waivers online first helps. Unfortunately, there is not a line dedicated to people who have pre-purchased their tickets and signed waivers online. Just a nice place for winter sports for the NYC area.

Some people hate this place, I happen to love it with pride. Sure, you're liable to get your board stolen and the conditions can be bad, traffic can be worse... but honestly the total package of Mt Creek and the Water Park is way too good. And if you like park setups (like I do) I can spend all day/night at South.

I have a 10, 4, and 5 year old there was water fun for all ages great place for families reasonable prices

What a great season again. With mother nature being so undecided these days the snow making & grooming crews have truly worked miracles.
Friends went to Vermont & skied on ice while I was at the Creek skiing nice snow.
Keep up the great work. See you next season

Keep in mind that I'm not an avid skier or snowboarder. I go, on average, once every two years.

The ski resort is tucked in a small town. It's the very obvious sight during day or night. The slopes are overall well-maintained. The snow machines ensure people can ski/board through warmer days. Still, when I went, there were large patches of uncovered ice on the slopes.

The place was very busy and packed, but I bought the lift tickets online. I saw other people wait on line for long periods of time. I definitely recommend you buy the lift tickets ahead of time. The staff is numerous, so you can find plenty of help if you'd like. The small locker goes for $10, the medium, I think, is $13. I forgot how much the larger ones are, but it's probably at least $15.

The lines for the ski lifts go quickly, even during very busy days/times.

The food is particularly good at the outdoor bar. The loaded fries is absolutely worth $9 I paid; it comes with pulled pork, cheese, and something else. Very good amount that fed 4 people for a quick snack. The beer selection was pretty good for a ski resort, and the bar makes cocktails as well. If this bar is indication of anything, I'm sure other places to eat on site would be good as well.

The parking usually isn't a problem, although you'd probably have to park across the street in the very large lot. It's broken into free and "preferred" sections. The preferred section costs $20. Honestly, it's not so bad to forgo $20 to park down the small hill to the free area. The distance to the slopes isn't much of a difference.

Aside from the icy slopes, I also gave a 4-star review because the rentals here are more expensive than the other nearby ski shops that offer the same rentals for $15 cheaper.

Off season stay between places and it wasn t too bad. Great facility and can see how it s a draw during busy season. At the we outdoor cafe and food was reasonable, nothing crazy. Water park looks amazing.

Had a blast, I just wish they opened more trails and open earlier

Really great time, cool workerd, all under control and really great activities and things to do

It gets really crowded especially the green trails. But it's the closes mountain from the Manhattan and it's open till 10pm. You don't have to rush in the morning to get to the slopes. They have an awesome terrain park I spend most of my time there. The food is amazing, it's not your typical ski resort food. People can be rude but hey that's the east coast for you!

Nice place not crowed during the weekdays.love the RFID lift tickets and gate system.

No snack bar. Just a bar. There was no way to get a snack for a bunch of young kids. I found this surprising. Otherwise great experience.

Had a great time on the rides, it wasn't too crowded so I was able to go on everything I wanted. Definitely high thrill. There is a lot of walking up hill involved but I didn't mind it. Would I go again yes, but after a little bit of time has passed. Definitely recommend getting a locker, a small one was perfectly fine for two people.

No good service. India imagica water park has better service than this... We go to water park to have fun not to carry heavy tubes to go for ride in 3 rides we got exuahste to carry tubes. They should have pullie for tubes for every rides.

Close to NYC . Rarely if ever covered by major news stations in the metro area. Shorter trip than the Poconos and Catskills. Good for families day trips

Love this place .. downhill mountain biking.. waterpark lots of fun outside activities

Love going to this water park I always have a great time