Poe Paddy State Park / Penns Creek

While our sight-seeing and easy 3-mile hike will be at Penns View and Poe Paddy State Park, because of the distance (45-50 min) to these destinations and the ease of losing one's way on unpaved forest roads with sometimes dubious GPS coverage, we will meet at and carpool and convoy from the State College parking lot of the strip mall where the popular restaurants Rey Azteca and Quaker Steak and Lube are located (485 Benner Pike).

Let's converge at 1 p.m. at the top of this large parking lot. Look for Leon's conspicuous orange Honda Fit.

Starting our convoy, we will first follow routes 26, 144, and 45, driving to one of the most scenic vistas in Central Pennsylvania -- Penns View -- looking down on the sharp meanders of Penns Creek, one of the most storied trout-fishing streams in the state.

Then we will proceed down to Poe Paddy proper -- passing Poe Valley State Park and its small lake (reservoir) en route. We will start our hike by walking alongside Penns Creek, then crossing over it on a former railroad bridge, then passing through a locally famous, dark and curving former railroad tunnel that has been re-purposed for pedestrian passage, emerging on the far side to walk alongside this beautiful stream once again. This is an out-and-back hike with little elevation change. Walking or hiking shoes are adequate. This is actually a segment of the Mid-State Trail.

From the park’s official website:

"Poe Paddy State Park is at the confluence of Big Poe Creek and Penns Creek, a trout angler’s paradise featuring the nationally recognized green drake mayfly hatch in June. Hikers enjoy the Mid State Trail. Poe Valley State Park is nearby."

Excerpt from Wikipedia:

Poe Paddy State Park is a 23-acre (9.3 ha) Pennsylvania state park in Haines Township, Centre County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The park is surrounded by Bald Eagle State Forest. Poe Valley State Park is 4 miles (6.4 km) to the east. The park is at the confluence of Big Poe Creek and Penns Creek. Poe Paddy State Park is named for the two mountains that surround it. Poe Mountain lies to the east and Paddy Mountain lies to the west, with Penns Creek in the valley between them.

## History

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Poe Paddy State Park is on the site of the former lumber town of Poe Mills.[3] Poe Mills was part of the lumber boom that swept through the wooded mountains of Pennsylvania from the mid-to-late 19th and early 20th centuries. At its peak, Poe Mills had a population of over 300. Big Poe Creek was dammed to provide power for the mills and a railroad was built into the area to transport lumber. This railway became a scenic route connecting the area with Milroy.[1]

Poe Valley State Park and Poe Paddy State Park were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression of the 1930s. The young men of the CCC also worked to clear the regrowing forests of brush to prevent forest fires. They constructed roads throughout the forests, built state park facilities, constructed bridges on the state roads, planted trees for reforestation, and cleaned streams.[1]