If the plan is a few days of trails with Hickory Run as the anchor, four homes in our Pocono portfolio do the job better than the rest, and for different reasons: Treehouse Escape if there are nine of you and two cars, Broken Oar Cottage if you want a real kitchen and two full bathrooms after a muddy day, and either Lakeview Oasis or Lakehouse Legacy if the water matters as much as the woods. All of them sit inside the gated Arrowhead Lake community, which is the part of this decision most people don't think about until they're already booked.
The drive to Hickory Run, and why it shapes the week
Hickory Run sits in the western foothills of the Poconos, over near White Haven, and you reach it off Route 534 whether you come down I-80 or in on 476. From Arrowhead Lake that's a run of under half an hour, which is the number that makes this whole idea work: you can go in for Hawk Falls before lunch and still be back on a deck by mid-afternoon.
What's worth knowing before you pick a house is how differently the park's trails eat a day. Hawk Falls is a short walk to the waterfall, the kind of thing you do with a four-year-old in boots and nobody complains. The Boulder Field Trail is three and a half miles of yellow blazes out to the stones, more difficult, and you can skip the walk entirely by driving in on Boulder Field Road if the legs aren't in it. Shades of Death follows Sand Spring Run through rhododendron that flowers from the middle of June into July, which is the one week of the year I'd plan a trip around. Hickory Run Trail and Stone Trail are both easy and both short, and Stone Trail starts right in the Boulder Field parking area, so you can stack it onto a drive-in visit without committing to anything.
Forty-plus miles of trail means you will not run out in a long weekend. It also means a house with a dryer and somewhere to leave wet boots matters more than a house with a view.
Three bedrooms, four very different houses
Most people searching this ask for three bedrooms, and in Pocono that single number covers an unusually wide spread. Here's how the four three-bedroom homes that suit a hiking trip actually differ:
-
Treehouse Escape sleeps nine across three levels, with a loft on top of the three bedrooms. Two wood-burning fireplaces, one on each of two levels, and a foosball table downstairs. Dogs are welcome, which is rare enough to decide the booking on its own.
-
Broken Oar Cottage sleeps seven and has the most interior space of the four, with two full bathrooms and a dishwasher. No pets here.
-
Lakefront Retreat sleeps seven, sits on the water, and keeps two kayaks and a canoe on the property. It's the smallest footprint of the four and has one bathroom, so it rewards a group that genuinely likes each other.
-
LiWay Lakeside sleeps six, with a private dock a few steps from the deck and three kayaks, two singles and a double.
Note what that list does not say. Bedroom count tells you almost nothing here: Treehouse Escape and LiWay Lakeside both have three, and one sleeps half again as many people as the other. Read the sleeping arrangements, not the headline number.
For a crowd of nine, with a dog
Treehouse Escape is the one I send hiking groups to when the group has grown. Three levels means two living rooms, so the people who want the fire and the people who want foosball aren't in the same room arguing about it. The queen, the full and the bunk room cover the bedrooms, and the loft takes a twin and a full on top of that. There's a wood stove and fireplaces on two levels, which earns its keep from October onward when you come back from the park cold.
The kitchen is stocked past the usual: pots, skillets, drinkware, and salt, pepper and oil already in the cupboard, so a grocery run before a week of trail days is shorter than you'd expect. There's a washer and dryer and a desk if someone has to log in for an hour. And the dogs come, which for a trip built around hiking is the difference between one trip and two.
If you'd rather cook properly and shower without queueing
Broken Oar Cottage is the house for a group that intends to eat well. The kitchen runs granite counters, a dishwasher, a kettle, a blender, and the dining area seats eight, which matters when seven of you come in at the same time with an appetite. Two full bathrooms is the other half of the argument: after a wet day on the Boulder Field Trail, that second shower resolves more arguments than any amenity in the portfolio.
The layout spreads the beds sensibly, two queens on separate floors, a twin room, a twin in the loft with a workspace tucked beside it. There's a firepit with chairs out back, an electric fireplace inside, and parking for three cars in the driveway, which is not a small thing when a hiking group arrives in a convoy. Beach #2 is a short walk away, roughly six minutes, for the days you want to stay in.
When the lake is half the reason you came
Two homes put you on the water with boats already there, and they answer different questions. LiWay Lakeside has the private dock, two single kayaks and a double, and a wooded lot that keeps the neighbours out of sight. The king bedroom on the second floor has its own half bath. It sleeps six, so it's the one for a couple travelling with another couple, or a family that wants the second bathroom more than the fourth bed.
Lakefront Retreat is the smaller, more rustic proposition: two kayaks and a canoe, a firepit right at the water's edge, a sunroom with its own AC, and one bathroom for up to seven. It has the highest guest rating of any home in this group, which tells you people forgive the single bathroom for what's outside the window.
If you want lakefront with room to spread out, Lakehouse Legacy sleeps ten and has a game room with a pool table, which is the honest answer to a rained-out afternoon in the Poconos. Lakeview Oasis sleeps eight, keeps kayaks, and has two covered patios, so you can sit outside through a passing shower.
The gate, the fees, and what you get for them
These homes are inside Arrowhead Lake, a private gated community, and short-term guests register with the association before arrival. It's a separate payment from the rental, it is mandatory, and it has to be sorted several days ahead, so build it into the plan rather than discovering it on the Thursday.
What it buys is a second set of options for the days you're not driving to the park. Two lakes, four beaches with playgrounds, three heated outdoor pools in summer, tennis, basketball and volleyball courts, and a rental shack with rowboats, canoes, paddle boats and bikes in season. The lodge runs year-round with fireplaces, a library, a gym, a billiards room and a banquet hall, which is the fallback when the pools are closed between Labor Day and Memorial Day. The community also backs onto the Brady's Lake state gamelands, a very large span of walkable, navigable ground, so there's more woods than Hickory Run alone.
One practical thing: this is a quiet, remote corner, and you need a car. Groceries and supplies mean a drive to Ahart, Weis, Walmart or ALDI. Dinners nearby that people actually go back to include Jubilee in Pocono Pines, which has been doing proper American breakfasts and hearty plates since the sixties and puts tables outside in warm weather, Murph's Hideaway on Route 940, Moyers Country Kitchen, and Pinewood Deli just outside the gate, which is takeout only.
Picking, and booking
Work backwards from two things: how many people need a bed, and how many need a bathroom at seven in the evening. Then decide whether you want kayaks at the door or a bigger kitchen, because on this stretch of Arrowhead Lake, you're choosing between those more often than you're choosing between neighbourhoods.
We're the owners and managers of these homes, so booking is direct, with no platform in the middle taking a cut. The wider portfolio runs well past the four here: cabins, chalets, cottages, lodges, lakefront homes, and several with hot tubs and saunas if you want heat waiting after a cold day on the trail. Tell us your dates and the shape of your group and we'll tell you which houses are actually free.