Ellicottville, NY – Many Canadians know Holiday Valley in Ellicottville as a wintertime destination for skiers and snowboarders. The resort’s summertime facilities, however, have recently grown in popularity thanks to a newly opened adventure park to complement the resort’s golf course. Resort officials announced that summer business continues to increase each year and set a record in 2011.
Sky High, Holiday Valley’s new outdoor adventure park, opened this past summer and includes an aerial park and a mountain coaster. The aerial park is a series of eight courses where participants are challenged to travel across bridges, ladders and zip lines to platforms built in the trees at varying elevations. The mountain coaster is similar to a roller coaster where two people ride in a car as it zigzags and spirals down the mountain through the trees. Riders can accelerate or decelerate using brakes on the side of the car.
The aerial park requires physical and mental skills, whereas the mountain coaster provides a thrilling ride, allowing Sky High to entertain visitors with a wide range of ages and interests. The park is unique to the western New York/Southern Ontario region and business exceeded the resort’s expectations, company officials indicate. The aerial park will reopen next spring, but the mountain coaster will operate throughout the winter season.
Holiday Valley’s 6,500 yard par 70 golf course, the Double Black Diamond, winds around the base of the mountain and offers seasonal views of the fall foliage. The fine summer weather, attractively priced packages and the yearly improvements of the course contributed to a successful golf season this summer, resort officials say.
During the height of the summer, Holiday Valley also operated a three pool outdoor swim complex that is a social hub for families, teens and singles. With poolside service from the Cabana Bar and John Harvard’s Brew House, pool visitors get a “cruise” experience, while overlooking the golf course at Holiday Valley. Falling Waters Spa, a full service spa located in the Tamarack Club, adds to the off-season services available at Holiday Valley.
Attractions at Holiday Valley this fall include over 35 miles of mountain bike trails. Riders are challenged up and down the mountains on tricky singletrack, logging roads and thrilling downhills. For those “skinny wheel” riders who prefer the pavement, there are miles and miles of quiet country roads and plenty of hills. Hikers are welcome throughout the resort. Little Rock City, a natural area with giant boulders filled with narrow passages and caves can be reached by mountain bike or car.
Off-site, the Seneca-Allegany Casino in nearby Salamanca offers gaming, dining and entertainment. At the opposite extreme, there is a large Amish settlement nearby. These gentle folk welcome visitors into their shops and homes, where they sell handcrafted quilts, furniture, toys and baked goods. Antique shops are plentiful throughout the countryside. Allegany State Park is 10 miles south and offers beautiful scenery and miles of hiking and biking trails. Griffis Sculpture Park, located 10 miles north of Holiday Valley, features over 250 large-scale sculptures dispersed through miles of hiking trails in a 400 acre park-like setting. Several nearby Alpaca farms encourage people to visit and learn about the unique qualities of these animals and the products made from their wool.
The Village of Ellicottville, 50 miles south of Buffalo, is a lively place to visit any time of the year with numerous shops, galleries and boutiques, a variety of interesting restaurants and a lively night life.