Lost ski areaPennsylvaniaAllegheny MountainsMid-Atlantic
Bear Rocks
Closed after the 1973 season. A small ski area inside the Bear Rocks housing development on Chestnut Ridge, east of Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania, that ran from the late 1960s into the early 1970s.
Overview
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Imagery: USGS The National Map · Terrain: Mapzen, USGS and others
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Bear Rocks began as a real-estate venture. On November 7, 1965, the Pittsburgh developer Scott Hamilton advertised it in the Pittsburgh Press as a new mountain ski area.1,2
Read the whole historyTodayHomes stand in the clearings of the former slopes, and the remaining cuts and parking area are posted against entry. (2026)1,2
Timeline
2 events · swipe
Memories
Skied Bear Rocks, or worked there?
Tell us what you remember, or what this page has wrong. Memories show here, credited to you, after we read them; facts are checked against a source before they change a figure.
Lost near Bear Rocks
The closest other lost ski areas, as the crow flies.
- 1951–1973 · 35.4 mi away · West VirginiaA club-built rope-tow slope at today's Chestnut Ridge Park east of Morgantown, run from the early 1950s until 1973 or, by some accounts, 1980.
- Years not yet collected · 37.7 mi away · PennsylvaniaA small rope-tow slope at Indiana University of Pennsylvania's College Lodge, run by the university's Co-op from the 1970s or earlier.
- Years not yet collected · 46.1 mi away · West VirginiaThe downhill slope of Alpine Lake, a resort community near Terra Alta in Preston County, skied from the 1970s into the 1990s with a rope tow and T-bars.
History
Written by aurora.ski from the 3 pages below, each sentence numbered to its sources.
Bear Rocks began as a real-estate venture. On November 7, 1965, the Pittsburgh developer Scott Hamilton advertised it in the Pittsburgh Press as a new mountain ski area. The development lay on the western slope of Chestnut Ridge, off Route 31 a few miles east of Mount Pleasant, with more than 1,000 house lots and 22 miles of roads. One lodge stood at the upper entrance and another at the foot of the slopes.1,2
The ski area itself was small. It had a double chairlift with wooden seats, rope tows and roughly 300 feet of vertical, and at its peak eight runs and snowmaking. Former skiers remember trails called Main Street, Snowball and Rocky's Run. The base lodge, built of stone and wood on several levels, held a restaurant and a bar.1,2
Skiing ended in 1972 or 1973; recollections differ, and Wikipedia names 1973 as the last season. The lodge became the Nepenthe restaurant, then burned and was never rebuilt. Houses now fill the old slope clearings, though the cuts and the parking area can still be made out.1,2
TodayHomes stand in the clearings of the former slopes, and the remaining cuts and parking area are posted against entry. (2026)1,2
Sources for this history (3)
Photos
No photographs of Bear Rocks we may republish yet
Its old photos and trail maps live on the sites that collected them, and Google finds the rest.
Memories
What skiers remember of Bear Rocks, in their own words.
Facts
Location
40.1302° N · 79.4637° W · Pennsylvania · Allegheny Mountains
OpenSkiMap lists it as abandoned.
Years operated
until 1973 · the year it opened is not yet collected
Closed after the 1973 season. It stays here as part of the record of U.S. ski areas.
Its numbers
all 2all 2, in one list
Terrain contours: USGS 3D Elevation Program, public domain