Wilderness at the Smokies Owners Open Camelback Lodge & Aquatopia Indoor Waterpark in the Poconos

Stand Rock Hospitality, owners and management company for Wilderness at the Smokies, announce the opening of Camelback Lodge & Aquatopia Indoor Waterpark in the Pocono Mountains as the largest indoor waterpark in the Northeast.

Comprised of four partners with a long legacy in the indoor and outdoor waterpark and entertainment industry, Stand Rock Hospitality partners, Pete Helland Jr., Pat Helland, Tim Lucke and Tim Gantz, and are no strangers to grand-scale waterpark resorts. Based in Wisconsin Dells, Wis., the “Waterpark Capital of the World,” each partner brings substantial experience, among them the former owner and operator of America’s Largest Outdoor Waterpark, Noah’s Ark. In addition to developing and managing the 716-key Wilderness at the Smokies Resort in Sevierville, Tenn., Stand Rock Hospitality helped develop and is co-owner of the largest indoor waterpark resort property in the U.S., Wilderness Resort in Wisconsin Dells.

The new Camelback Lodge & Aquatopia Indoor Waterpark, which opened Friday in the Pocono Mountains, is just 90 minutes from New York City and just under two hours from Philadelphia.

“The Pocono Mountains is an established tourism destination, welcoming more than 20 million leisure travelers annually from New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia,” said Pete Helland, Jr., managing partner of Stand Rock Hospitality. “Camelback Lodge & Aquatopia Indoor Waterpark is located at the base of Camelback Resort, a popular ski destination and home to Camelbeach, the largest outdoor waterpark in the state of Pennsylvania. As a drive-to destination, Camelback Lodge will have wide appeal to a very broad audience wanting to escape the city for a few days.”

The $163 million, 453-room, eight-story Camelback Lodge & Aquatopia Indoor Waterpark was uniquely designed to be unlike any other indoor waterpark in the U.S. Boasting 13 waterslides, seven pools, and multiple water play features, all under a 1.5 acres of Texlon transparent roofing, Aquatopia also features several never-before-seen attractions and slides, including: Venus SlydeTrap, the only combination family raft ride of its kind in the world; Storm Chaser, the longest gravity-defying uphill water coaster to exist in any indoor waterpark in the U.S.; The Lost River, an immersive, theatrical and dark adventure river experience featuring amusement park-level theming; and Kartrite’s Quest, the world’s first ‘Next Generation’ fully themed and immersive multi-level exploration AquaPlay structure.

The new Camelback Lodge & Aquatopia Indoor Waterpark, co-owned, developed and managed by Wilderness at the Smokies owners, opened to the public May 1, 2015 in the Pocono Mountains in the NY market. Camelback Lodge serves as the largest indoor waterpark in the Northeast. Photo courtesy of Camelback Lodge.

It’s been a busy year for Stand Rock Hospitality, who developed and manages Camelback Lodge & Aquatopia Indoor Waterpark through a partnership with the owners of Camelback Resort. The new Lodge employees 600, and earlier this year, Stand Rock Hospitality announced the expansion of its Wisconsin Dells call center, leading to the creation of an additional 30 new year-round jobs. The call center serves as the central reservations hub for Camelback Lodge and Wilderness at the Smokies. In August, Stand Rock Hospitality will also open a new Hampton Inn & Suites in West Allis, Wis., through a unique ownership partnership with FirstPathway Partners, a company that helps foreign investors become United States Citizens through the Department of Homeland Security Immigrant Investor (EB-5) program. The 101-room contemporary-styled hotel will debut with an 8,000 square-foot conference center, one of the largest in the Hampton Inn franchise.