Patton Woods / Scotia Barrens / Industrial Ruins

This is an approximately 4-5 mile, mostly level (total about 350 ft vertical ascent) moderate hike -- which may be adjusted depending on how things are going once we're underway. It passes through mature, second-growth forests and along fields, cropland, and a few ponds or wet meadows, just minutes from State College.

We will meet at 12 noon and the hike will start at the Patton Woods parking lot -- circled in red on the accompanying map. You can park here, although space is rather limited. However, abundant overflow parking is available in the Circleville Park parking lot just 200+ yards away (also circled in red on the map).

Access to both parking lots is via Circleville Road. On North Atherton Street (322) coming from downtown State College, turn left onto Valley Vista Drive and proceed 1.7 miles to Bachman Lane on right. Bachman Lane quickly becomes Circleville Road. Drive almost 0.9 mile and the Patton Woods parking lot will be on left at the bottom of a hill.

The Circleville Park parking lot will be about another 200 yards on right. A trail connects the two lots, or you can walk on the road shoulder (carefully).

Although this particular hike will skirt the Scotia Barrens proper, the Barrens boast rich natural and human histories. “Barrens” are a natural habitat with flora (plants) adapted to well-drained, shallow, or nutrient-poor and often sandy soils. The forest canopy is often “patchy,” featuring such trees as pitch pine and scrub oak, as well as pockets of grass and shrub thickets. If left undisturbed, ecological succession on barrens habitats can eventually lead to closed canopy hardwood forests more typical of the region. Wildflowers and wildlife abound, including those species with a preference for barrens conditions. (Of course, in early spring, most wildflowers will be absent.)

A century and more ago, the Scotia Barrens supported intensive mining and smelting operations, i.e., converting iron ore into iron for steel-making, as well as logging, and settlements of miners and loggers.

Throughout Centre County and much of Central Pennsylvania in general, millions of trees were logged to convert their wood into the charcoal used in smelting the iron ore. Steel magnate Andrew Carnegie named the area “Scotia” after his native Scotland. In 1942, the Pennsylvania Game Commission acquired abandoned lands and created State Game Lands 176.

Patton Woods Parking Lot
LATITUDE 40° 47’ 42’’ N
LONGITUDE 77° 55’ 33” W

Circleville Park Parking Lot
LATITUDE 40° 47’ 53’’ N
LONGITUDE 77° 55’ 41” W