The non-profit Mount Nittany Conservancy has owned, protected, and managed the crest and upper slopes of Mt. Nittany for decades, including the construction and maintenance of a trail system open to the public.
This approximately 4-mile moderate to difficult hike up and around the crest of Mount Nittany will start at the main trailhead / kiosk and proceed to trail markers 1, 2, 11, 10, 6, 5, 4, 3 (Mike Lynch Overlook), 2, and then back down to #1 and the parking lot on the Mt. Nittany Conservancy map shown.
Mt. Nittany is not only a beloved Penn State and State College landmark, it is one of the many long, parallel, "stratigraphic" ridges located in what geologists call the Ridge and Valley Physiographic Province of the central Appalachian Mountains.
During the early Paleozoic Era, its layers or strata of sedimentary rocks were originally deposited in the waters of a now-vanished sea and then folded and uplifted in the Appalachian Orogeny some 300 million years ago, when the massive North American and African tectonic plates collided, and Earth's brittle crust was crunched. Tens of millions of years of differential weathering and erosion then followed -- one grain at a time stripped away by running water -- carving the landscape we see today.
Of course, Mt. Nittany is now cloaked with a mixed forest of oaks, hickories, chestnuts, birches, and pines. This forest furnishes habitat for many wild critters, both furred and feathered.
The ascent and the descent of Mt. Nittany are each rather rocky and steep, with challenging footing, for about half a mile. The trail segments atop the mountain crest, in contrast, are mostly level or undulating, with generally good footing and some rocky patches.
We will meet at the trail head kiosk at 1 p.m. this coming Sunday (18 October) afternoon.
To access the trail head, in the village of Lemont, proceed up Mt. Nittany Road from Pike Street to one of the designated parking areas. Look out for road closures in and around Lemont.
Ascending Mt. Nittany Road, at the final curve, if you turn right, in less than a hundred yards, you will find an ample parking lot for Mt. Nittany hikers. This parking lot is about 1/4 mile walk from the trail head, but at least you are likely to get a spot, which is not always the case up by the trail head itself, where it can also be hard to turn around if it's congested.
