One of the most recent hikes I’ve been on was in Lemont, Pennsylvania. I hiked Mount Nittany with my friend, Dylan Miller. Mount Nittany’s fame comes from the legend of Princess Nittany, and is a landmark for Penn State, whose mascot, the Nittany Lion, is named for (Nittany Trails, 2021).
To begin your hike to the top of Mount Nittany, navigate to the Mount Nittany trailhead.
There are several different trails you could take within the loop, with seven named overlooks along the loop (Glessner, 2021). The most popular overlook being the Mike Lynch overlook where you can see State College. At the Mike Lynch overlook, some popular attractions you can see are Beaver Stadium and the Bryce Jordan Center. This was the overlook my friend and I hiked to. We chose the white trail to follow, which leads you directly to the Mike Lynch overlook. We went on a very, very hot day, so we chose to keep the hike short and only visit this one overlook. The white trail was approximately 0.6 miles of a hike, but it was not a simple hike (Nittany Trails, 2021). The peak of Mount Nittany sits 2,077 feet above sea level (Glessner, 2021). A half mile converts to approximately 2,640 feet, which in turns means the white trail was STEEP! Hiking just the white trail to the Mike Lynch overlook is definitely a hike that gets your heart racing. My recommendation would be to be in shape for this climb and expect to be climbing a steep slope.
The hike begins immediately from the parking lot and leads to a junction of the blue trail and white trail (All Trails, 2021). We continued straight on the white trail, which was a very rocky, steep terrain. This hike feels like you’re going almost entirely straight up! The white trail is fairly difficult compared to the almost entirely flat terrain following along the other overlooks of the trail. We followed the white trail back down after taking in the view of downtown State College and Penn State, so our hike totaled out to be approximately 1.4 miles. This was an incredibly difficult hike for me as I had asthma and took several breaks for how steep the climb was, but the view of Penn State was worth it! Though this steep climb was completed on such a hot day, and I was pouring sweat, it was so fun to be outdoors and see incredible things! #hikingbeauty
Citations:
All Trails. (2021). Mt Nittany: White Trail to Mike Lynch Overlook. All Trails. https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/pennsylvania/mt-nittany-white-trail-to-mike-lynch-overlook
Glessner, R. (2021). Hiking Mount Nittany near State College. PA Bucket List. https://pabucketlist.com/hiking-mount-nittany-near-state-college/
Google. (2021). Google Maps. https://www.google.com/maps/place/Mount+Nittany+Trailhead/@40.8115511,-77.809131,17z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x89cea596668e2a65:0x4a4ad7816afcf334!8m2!3d40.8115511!4d-77.8069423
Nittany Trails. (2021). Trails and maps. Mount Nittany Conservancy. https://nittany.org/trails/