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Mount Nittany | |
---|---|
Southern terminus of Mount Nittany ridge, looking east from the Bryce Jordan Center near State College | |
Highest point | |
Elevation | 2,077 ft (633 m) |
Coordinates | 40°48′41″N77°48′25″W / 40.811502°N 77.807008°W |
Geography | |
Location | Centre County, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
Parent range | Appalachian Mountains |
Topo map | USGS State College Quadrangle |
Climbing | |
Easiest route | White Trail |
Mount Nittany is the common name for Nittany Mountain, a prominent geographic feature in Centre County, Pennsylvania, United States. The mount is not a mountain but is part of a ridge that separates Nittany Valley from Penns Valley, with the enclosed Sugar Valley between them. On USGS topographic maps, Nittany Mount is generally too small to be considered a mountain and is shown as the lower ridge line that runs below Big Mountain on the west and Big Kettle Mountain on the east side, coming together to form a single ridge line at the southern terminus. This nomenclature is not always consistently applied to the same geologic formation, and there is a shorter Nittany Mountain ridge shown above the Sugar Valley as well.
Penn State University lies at the foot of Mount Nittany; the athletic teams and the mascot of the school, the Nittany Lion, are named for the mountain, as are Mount Nittany Elementary and Mount Nittany Middle School. [1]
The word "Nittany" is derived from the Algonquian word Nit-A-Nee meaning "single mountain".[ citation needed ] According to Penn State folklore, Nit-A-Nee is also the name of a Native American maiden whose actions caused Mount Nittany to be formed.[ citation needed ] The original inhabitants of the area used Nit-A-Nee to describe the mountain,[ citation needed ] and it likely became commonly known as "Nittany" by the first Europeans to settle the area in the 18th century. The word "Nittany" was already in use by the time Pennsylvania State University was founded. Some sources cite the word Nit-A-Nee as meaning "barrier against the wind". [2]
In 1945, the landowners of Mount Nittany were preparing to sell the mountain, allegedly to use timber rights. The alumni of the Lion's Paw Senior Society who heard of this bought an option to buy the mountain. It took the Lion's Paw alumni until May 1946 to raise the money needed to buy the mountain. In 1981, Lion's Paw established the Mount Nittany Conservancy, an organization intended to raise money from the general public in addition to the money raised by Lion's Paw members. Since its establishment, the Mount Nittany Conservancy has purchased hundreds of additional acres on Mount Nittany.
In 2013, Conserving Mount Nittany: A Dynamic Environmentalism, a book by Tom Shakely on the history of Mount Nittany and local conservation efforts, was published, incorporating histories of the mountain and valley. [3] [4]
Mount Nittany is part of the Ridge and Valley province of the Appalachian Mountains. [5] The neighboring Bald Eagle, Tussey and Shriner mountains are part of the same sedimentary formation, consisting of, from youngest to oldest, Tuscarora Formation quartzite, Juniata Formation shale, and Bald Eagle Formation sandstone. These layers were folded during the Appalachian orogeny.
Nittany Mountain is part of a synclinal depression of the anticlinal Nittany Arch, which originally formed a huge mountain, since eroded, that towered over what is now Nittany Valley. The present Nittany and Big Mountain ridges were originally a valley in this ancient mountain. The Nittany ridge line is topped by the erosion-resistant Bald Eagle Sandstone. The more durable Tuscarora Quartzite formations are found exposed on the higher ridges of the northern end of the same syncline: Big Mountain to "Riansares Mountain" and Big Kettle Mountain to "The Winehead". The more easily eroded Juniata Shale forms the depression between the lower and higher ridges, and the drainage from this area cut small ravines in the Nittany ridge line. The same three rock layers are exposed in the neighboring ridges.
Beneath the sedimentary layers is a formation of dolomite and limestone. The Bald Eagle Sandstone topping Mount Nittany prevents the erosion of the underlying limestone to the same level as the surrounding limestone valleys.[ citation needed ]
Snake Spring Township is a township in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,830 at the 2020 census.
The Juniata River is a tributary of the Susquehanna River, approximately 104 miles (167 km) long, in central Pennsylvania. The river is considered scenic along much of its route, having a broad and shallow course passing through several mountain ridges and steeply lined water gaps. It formed an early 18th-century frontier region in Pennsylvania and was the site of French-allied Native American attacks against English colonial settlements during the French and Indian War.
Rothrock State Forest is a Pennsylvania state forest in Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry District #5. The main offices are located in Huntingdon in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania in the United States.
Bald Eagle Valley is a low-lying area in Pennsylvania that drains into Bald Eagle Creek between the Allegheny Front and Bald Eagle Mountain, south of the West Branch Susquehanna River, in the Ridge-and-valley Appalachians. The valley is located southwest of West Branch Susquehanna Valley and includes Williamsport, Nittany Valley, and State College in the central portion of Centre County and southern portion of Clinton County.
Bald Eagle Mountain – once known locally as Muncy Mountain – is a stratigraphic ridge in the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians of central Pennsylvania, United States, running east of the Allegheny Front and northwest of Mount Nittany. It lies along the southeast side of Bald Eagle Creek and south of the West Branch Susquehanna River, and is the westernmost ridge in its section of the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians. The ridge line separates the West Branch Susquehanna Valley from the Nippenose and White Deer Hole valleys, and Bald Eagle Valley from Nittany Valley.
Nittany Valley is an eroded anticlinal valley located in Centre County, Pennsylvania. It is separated from the Bald Eagle Valley by Bald Eagle Mountain and from Penns Valley by Mount Nittany. The valley is closed to the north by a high plateau that joins these two mountain ridges, but is open to the south at the southern terminus of Mount Nittany. The valley drains to Bald Eagle Creek through water gaps in Bald Eagle Mountain formed by Spring Creek and Fishing Creek, along with smaller streams running through Curtain Gap and Howard Gap. The northwest side of the valley between the Bald Eagle Mountain ridge and the lower Sand Ridge is also known as the Little Nittany Valley.
North Fork Mountain is a quartzite-capped mountain ridge in the Ridge and Valley physiographic province of the Allegheny Mountains, also known as the High Alleghenies or Potomac Highlands, of eastern West Virginia. Kile Knob, at 4,588 feet, is the mountain's highest point, and Panther Knob and Pike Knob are nearly as high.
Penns Valley is an eroded anticlinal valley of the Pennsylvania ridge and valley geologic region of the Appalachian Mountain range. The valley is located in southern Centre County, Pennsylvania. Along with the Nittany Valley to the north and east, it is part of the larger Nittany Anticlinorium. It is bordered by Mount Nittany to the north, the Seven Mountains range to the south, and connects to the larger Nittany Valley to the west. There are two smaller subordinate valleys typically associated with the greater valley: Georges Valley in the south, separated by Egg Hill, and Brush Valley in the north, separated by Brush Mountain.
The Nittany Arch or Nittany anticline is an anticline geologic formation in the western part of the Ridge-and-Valley physiographic province of the Appalachian Mountains of Central Pennsylvania, United States. The Nitany Arch is more than 100 miles long, stretching from Muncy to Hollidaysburg, with a maximum width of approximately 9 miles.
Brush Mountain is a stratigraphic ridge in the Appalachian Mountains of central Pennsylvania, United States, lying east of the Allegheny Front and west of Tussey Mountain. It runs along the southeast side of the Little Juniata River and forms a horseshoe around Sinking Run, and is the westernmost ridge in its section of the Ridge-and-valley Appalachians. The western ridge line separates the Logan Valley from the Sinking Valley.
Wills Mountain is a quartzite-capped ridge in the Ridge and Valley physiographic province of the Appalachian Mountains in Pennsylvania and Maryland, extending from near Bedford, Pennsylvania, to near Cumberland, Maryland. It is the northernmost of several mountain ridges included within the Wills Mountain Anticline.
Tussey Mountain is a stratigraphic ridge in central Pennsylvania, United States, trending east of the Bald Eagle, Brush, Dunning and Evitts Mountain ridges. Its southern foot just crosses the Mason–Dixon line near Flintstone, Maryland, running north 130 km (80 mi) to the Seven Mountains of central Pennsylvania, near Tusseyville, making it one of the longest named ridges in this section of the Ridge-and-valley Appalachians.
Bald Eagle Creek is a 55.2-mile-long (88.8 km) tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River mostly in Centre County, Pennsylvania, in the United States.
The Silurian Tuscarora Formation — also known as Tuscarora Sandstone or Tuscarora Quartzite — is a mapped bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia, US.
The Ordovician Juniata Formation is a mapped bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, and Maryland. It is a relative slope-former occurring between the two prominent ridge-forming sandstone units: the Tuscarora Formation and the Bald Eagle Formation in the Appalachian Mountains.
Bedford County, Pennsylvania is situated along the western border of the Ridge and Valley physiographic province, which is characterized by folded and faulted sedimentary rocks of early to middle Paleozoic age. The northwestern border of the county is approximately at the Allegheny Front, a geological boundary between the Ridge and Valley Province and the Allegheny Plateau.
Jacks Mountain is a stratigraphic ridge which is located in central Pennsylvania, United States, trending southeast of the Stone Mountain ridge and Jacks Mountain Anticline. The ridge line separates Kishacoquillas Valley from the Ferguson and Dry Valleys.
Stone Mountain is a stratigraphic ridge that is located in central Pennsylvania, United States, trending northwest of the Jacks Mountain ridge and Jacks Mountain Anticline. The ridge line separates Kishacoquillas Valley from the Seven Mountains area. Stone Mountain lies in, and the ridge line forms part of the border between, Mifflin and Huntingdon counties.
Canoe Mountain is a stratigraphic ridge in central Pennsylvania, United States, running east of the Allegheny Front and west of Tussey Mountain. It forms a continuous ridge with Brush Mountain to the west. To the south, across the water gap formed by the Frankstown Branch Juniata River, the ridgeline continues as Lock Mountain.
Dunning Mountain is a stratigraphic ridge in central Pennsylvania, United States. The mountain's north end is at McKee Gap, which separates it from Short Mountain, and where Halter Creek flows westward towards the Frankstown Branch of the Juniata River. The south end of the mountain is contiguous with Evitts Mountain, but is marked by a sharp bend to the east. The valley formed by the bend is known as "The Kettle," and the broad valley to the east of Dunning Mountain is called Morrisons Cove. The town of Roaring Spring is located at the north end of the mountain on the east side.