Day 1: Hike Mt. Nittany

With nearly nine miles of volunteer-maintained trails and scenic views, Mt. Nittany offers a unique setting for local recreation. A hike on the trails blazed through the woods is rewarding any season.


AT THE START of the climb, the richer soils and gentler slopes support a diverse assortment of forest trees, including several kinds of oaks, white ash, sugar and red maples, shagbark hickory, basswood and several other kinds. As you climb the trails, the major trees are chestnut oaks, with a scattering of red and black oaks, pignut hickories, and white, pitch and table mountain pines.

NEAR THE TOP, numerous American chestnuts continue to sprout from old roots, and there are dense growths of black birch and some paper birch and sassafras. Thickets of the fast growing but scrubby striped maple or moosewood and bracken fern are troublesome along some of the trails as they tend to take over. The forest floor is covered everywhere with low-bush blueberries and other shrubs.

SPRING, Mother's Day is an ideal time. Spicy fragrant, pink azaleas have burst forth on upper areas, with occasional pink lady slipper orchids appearing underneath. Pink trailing arbutus line some trails. Mountain laurels peak a month later. Serviceberries bloom earlier, their white flowers presaging red/purple fruits in June. May sees the return of migratory birds.

SUMMER, yellow false foxgloves and loostrifes are common on some trails. Blackberries and black raspberries flourish on the far side. The small red berries of wintergreen or teaberry are almost everywhere. In some damper areas, mushrooms and saprophytic white Indian pipes and red and yellow pine saps sprout.

FALL, birches, ashes, hickories, and some maples turn yellow. Oaks follow from bronze to dark red. A sampling of wildflowers are held in check by dense forest cover. In low damp areas, witch hazel bushes yield yellow, stringy flowers.

WINTER, leafless trees along ridge trails offer additional valley views. Snow shows deer, fox, turkey and bear tracks. Woodpeckers abound.


Directions

From Penn State University Park Campus

Take Park Ave. onto the Mt. Nittany expressway (Rt. 322E); Take College Ave. exit; Left onto E. College Ave. (Rt. 26N) 1/2 mile to traffic light (Pike St.); Right onto Pike St. 6/10 mile to Mt Nittany Rd.; Left onto Mt. Nittany Rd. and up hill one mile to Trailhead (see maps).

OR

Porter Rd. to College Ave.; Left onto E. College Ave. (Rt. 26N) 1/2 mile to Elmwood St. (Lemont sign on right); Right onto Elmwood St. 1/2 mile to traffic light (Pike St.); Left onto Pike St. two blocks to Mt. Nittany Rd.; Right onto Mt. Nittany Rd. and up hill one mile to Trailhead (see trail map).

OR

For students without a vehicle, the CATA's M (Nittany Mall) route will take you to Lemont. You will then need to walk approx. .8 miles to the trailhead. Here is a link to a Google map with walking directions.

From State College

South Atherton Street (Business Rt. 322E) to Branch Rd. (traffic light - see Lemont sign); Left onto Branch Rd. two miles to traffic light (Elmwood St.). Continue straight ahead two blocks to Mt. Nittany Rd.; Right onto Mt. Nittany Rd. and up hill one mile to Trailhead (see trail map).