Mount Nittany crest trails and overlooks

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 ridges in what geologists call the Ridge and Valley Physiographic Province of the Appalachian Mountains. Its layers or strata of sedimentary and metamorphic rocks were compressed and folded hundreds of millions of years ago in the Appalachian Orogeny, when the massive North American and African tectonic plates collided, and the Earth's crust had nowhere to go but up.

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 10 a.m. this coming Saturday (2 August) morning.

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.

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.