Thornhurst – Life In A Small Pocono Town

Thornhurst – Life In A Small Pocono Town

  Picture by Nicholas_T

Thornhurst, to the untrained eye, is just one of many small towns and boroughs that make up The Pocono Mountains – but it is much more than that to the nearly 1,100 residents that call it home. If you look up Thornhurst on a map, you might think that this tiny piece of The Poconos equates to no more than a dozen homes or so in the Lackawanna State Forest (and we don’t blame you for thinking so either). But the truth is that Thornhurst is much, much more.

In Winter, Thornhurst is the town that gets buried in snow. If any town in The Poconos gets any snow accumulation at all, then you can bet Thornhurst is coated white as well – and you can bet that young kids will be outside making snowmen as tall as you or me. The Briar Patch Nursery is tucked away down a small road, it would be the best kept secret on the mountain if it was a secret at all. Santa Claus comes to town a little early every year in Thornhurst for breakfast at The Clubhouse in Thornhurst Country Club Estates and every year all the families in our small community meet him there!

In Summer, Thornhurst is teeming with life of all sorts. Fishing? Cars parked all along River Road tell the tale of many a happy fisherman enjoying the Lehigh River. Hiking? Walk The Pinchot Trails in the Lackawanna State Forest, a 23 mile trail that includes some spectacular scenery.

In Autumn, I like to sit on my front porch and watch the leaves change colors and fall from the trees. It gets dark early, and it gets cold early on in the season here in Thornhurst, so you might think trick-or-treating was a challenge best left untouched. Not the case. Determined parents form caravans with cars and trucks, loading up the neighborhood kids and driving them down the long, windy roads to the houses dishing out candy.

And let’s not forget the staple of Halloween in Thornhurst, the Haunted Hayride at the Thornhurst Fire House, bringing appropriate levels of scary fun to families in the area while raising funds to continue serving those families. Hunting? Make sure you’re buttoned up for the cold before you head out! Though Thornhurst only has an area of about 23 square miles, 6 of those miles make up PA State Game Land 135!

So the next time you look at The Pocono Mountains on a map, don’t forget about Thornhurst. You might have to look really close, but once you find it, take a drive through our little town alongside The Lehigh River. Take a few days and backpack The Pinchot Trails. Get away from all the stores and cars and reconnect with nature in a town you may never have heard of, but you will never forget.