Crystal Springs Resort has purchased Mountain Creek, the New York Metro area's closest winter resort. The acquisition creates the region's largest and most comprehensive four-season resort destination in the region.
Spanning five miles through four townships (Vernon, Hardyston, Hamburg, Franklin), the combined resorts fill the Vernon Valley region with 15,000 acres of year-round amenities including award-winning golf courses, spas, hotels, a globally-renowned 80,000-bottle wine cellar, ski and snowboard venues, a waterpark, and mountain bike park.
While still preliminary, Crystal Springs' plans include a rainforest-themed indoor water park hotel, a base area village with entertainment, dining and retail, as well as a "main street" with venues such as artisan food makers, a winery, brew pub, cheese maker, ice creamery, bakery, chocolatier, and more. Also contemplated are several internationally branded resort hotels. On the recreational menu are other mountain outdoor play elements such as mountain luge, zip lines, and lift-accessed water slides as well as a renewed focus on festivals and entertainment.
Mountain Creek has been under the ownership of Canadian-based, Intrawest ULC for the past 12 years, during which time the resort invested significant capital installing five new lifts and ongoing snowmaking upgrades including, at the time, the largest single installation in North America. In the non-winter seasons, the resort is home to the Mountain Creek Waterpark and the Diablo Freeride Mountain Bike Park. The principal owners of Crystal Springs were the original builders of the existing waterpark.
"From this platform, we have major expansion plans to create a first-class tourist destination on par with New England and the Carolinas, but with convenient proximity to the New York Metro area," Crystal Springs President Andrew Mulvihill said. "Understand that there has been a joint half billion-dollar investment undertaken by both resorts in the past few years. Furthermore, on the residential side, the majority of Resort residential developments have slowed or shut down, yet Crystal Springs Builders is currently constructing a 300 home neighborhood. The beginning of the month saw a 1,000 guest grand opening of its new single family model home."
Visit www.crystalgolfresort.com or www.mountaincreek.com.