This cluster holds the ski areas closest to New York City, inside the largest metropolitan area in the US. The metro had 20.1 million residents in 2020 and has the highest cost of living in the country. Mountain Creek sits in Vernon Township, Sussex County, New Jersey, about a one hour drive from New York City. Vernon had 22,358 residents in 2020. Mountain Creek has 46 trails, 45 of them lit for night skiing, plus a summer water park. Great Gorge Village, first built as slopeside vacation housing with 1,356 units, is the township's largest housing complex. The former Hidden Valley ski area in Vernon has reopened as the National Winter Activity Center. Big Snow American Dream, inside the American Dream mall in East Rutherford, opened in December 2019 as the first indoor ski park in North America and runs year round. Campgaw Mountain in Bergen County has 12 trails on the only ski slope in the Watchung Mountains. Mount Peter in Warwick, New York, opened in 1936 and is the oldest operating ski area in the state.