History of Hidden Valley Resort

Like many ski areas that have operated for decades, Hidden Valley is in a micro-climate that gets a lot of snow.  Before there was snowmaking, locals had known the Hidden Valley area for the amount of natural snow that it received.  So George Parke decided to make it a ski resort.  It didn't grow rapidly until Clarence Kettler, the developer of Montgomery Village in the Washington, D.C. area and many other projects, got involved, eventually purchasing the resort.  His company laid out elaborate and very attractive plans for the resort, which during his tenure progressed well.  His company is responsible for the many high-quality homes that you see at Hidden Valley and the gracious ambience of the entire resort.  Unfortunately, control of the resort passed to Clarence's son Jim, which began a long decline in the resort, marked by chronic mismanagement and under-funding.  This decliine took place admidst constant discussion that the resort might be sold, broken up or even become a slot machine haven under Pennsylvania's new slot machine law.  Now all of this is being resolved by the recent announcement of the soon-to-close sale of the resort to the Buncher organization, a local company that is well respected in the areas.  See the New Era discussion on this site.  We look forward to seeing the effect of increased investment in the resort in the near term.

The Laurel Highlands

One of the great attractions of Hidden Valley is its location in the Laurel Mountains of Pennsylvania.  Many of the people who vacation at Hidden Valley are from Pittsburgh or Washington, D.C. (like ourselves) and enjoy the laid-back, slower pace of life in the Laurel Mountains.  There is a lot to do, but everything goes a little slower.  The clerk at the supermarket expects to have a conversation with you, and you'll find that the people you meet have an open friendliness that is very appealing.

You won't see the prices of the big city in the Laurel Mountains, either.  It's possible to have a meal in a restaurant without breaking the bank.  There are a number of restaurants that serve excellent food.  We have put a few of our favorites on this Site, and as we visit others and take photos, they will be onto the site as well.

Seven Springs

Not far from Hidden Valley is the booming ski resort Seven Springs.  Seven Springs has had very active and successful management and has grown dramatically nearly every year.  At the same time, Hidden Valley's management was considerably less successful, so the pace of growth at Hidden Valley has been much slower.  The next big developments for Seven Springs are a water park and a casino with 500 slot machines.

We enjoy visiting Seven Springs.  We ski there and we enjoy their other activities.  But we also like a quiet place to stay and live, so we are happy to visit Seven Springs for the occasional day of skiing or evening of night life, and then return to our Hidden Valley home that's nearby.  Our own opinion of skiing at Seven Springs, although it's tecnically more interesting than Hidden Valley, is that the danger factor makes it borderline for us.  The bar at Seven Springs is a prominent feature of the social scene there, and we have seen people who've had more alcohol than we think is wise on the ski slopes.  So we don't ski at Seven Springs on days such as late Saturday afternoon, and we certainly avoid night skiing there.  Of course, that's just an opinion; as they say on the Internet, your mileage may vary.

Seven Springs serves a weekend buffet that is very popular and regarded as an excellent buy by many skiers.  In addition, for fine dining, there is also Helen's Restaurant at Seven Springs, that serves excellent continental-style food.  They have an excellent wine list that is reasonably priced.