Penns Valley

Sunrise as seen from Penns Creek

The Penns Valley region is part of the Chesapeake watershed. The main waterway in the area is Penns Creek whose headwaters are located south of Centre Hall in Penns Cave. It travels downstream linking with Sinking Creek in Spring Mills and flows to the town of Coburn. There it joins Elk Creek whose headwaters are in eastern Brush valley. From Coburn, it flows through the Seven Mountains and into Union County.

There are also two lakes within Penns Valley, each which are controlled by dams: Poe Lake and Colyer Lake. Being fed by Sinking Creek, Colyer Lake is located on the western boundary of Penns Valley and has a surface area of 77 acres. Boating and fishing are permitted and as part of the Cooperative Fish Habitat Improvement Program through the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, the lake has been host to fish habitat structures to support fish populations. As of March 2013 Colyer Lake has been slated for indefinite draining until deficiencies in the dam can be resolved.[4][5] Poe Lake is a 25-acre lake at the southern boundary of Penns Valley. The lake is located in Poe Valley State Park which, in turn, is surrounded by 198,000 acre Bald Eagle State Forest. The lake itself was named for the Big Poe Creek which feeds the reservoir. Access to the reservoir and the reservoir's dam were both constructed by the CCC in the mid to late 1930s, specifically with the dam being completed in 1937.[6][7]

Egg Hill in Pennsylvania as seen from PA Route 45

Nittany Mountain is part of a synclinal depression of the anticlinal Nittany Arch, which originally formed a huge mountain, that has since eroded, during the Appalachian orogeny. Topped by erosion resistant sandstone the mountain forms a barrier between Penns Valley, and Brush Valley, to the south and Nittany Valley to the north.[1]

The southern mountainous border of Penns Valley is created by Tussey Mountain which is one of the stratigraphic ridges of central Pennsylvania. Tussey Mountain is one of the longest running mountains of the Ridge and Valley complex starting in Flintstone, Maryland and running 80 miles into the Seven Mountains of central Pennsylvania.

Egg Hill is a mountain separating greater Penns Valley from the subordinate Georges Valley. Rising to 1,955 ft., Egg Hill is located on the western border of Spring Mills and in the center of greater Penns Valley along PA 45.[8]

As Egg Hill separates Georges Valley from Penns Valley so too does Brush Mountain from Brush Valley. Brush Mountain raises to an elevation of 1,936 ft[9] and has one large pass, the Millheim Narrows, cut by Elk Creek. This pass allows travel from Rebersburg to Millheim and greater Penns Valley.[10]

Penns Valley is host to two major public limestone caves.

Penn's Cave, located just east of Centre Hall, is an all water limestone cave and wildlife center unique in the United States. For centuries the few dry rooms above the water were used as shelter by Native Americans and European trappers; in 1885 the cave was officially opened as a show cavern and the nearby Penn's Cave Hotel was opened the same year. On its 91st anniversary in 1976 both the cave and hotel were placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The cave is accessed by guided boat tours through the cavern.[11][12]

The second public cave in Penns Valley is Woodward Cave. Located in the village of Woodward, Woodward cave is one of the largest in the state featuring the 14-foot Tower of Babel stalagmite, 60-foot cathedral ceiling in the Upper Room, the ballroom which is large enough to host banquets, and the 200-foot-long Hall of Statues. This solution limestone cave can be toured in 50 minutes and has both cabin rentals and campground facilities.[13][14]

• Centre Hall
• Millheim

• Gregg Township
• Haines Township
• Miles Township
• Penn Township
• Potter Township

Census-designated places are geographical areas designated by the U.S. Census Bureau for the purposes of compiling demographic data. They are not actual jurisdictions under Pennsylvania law. Other unincorporated communities, such as villages, may be listed here as well.

• Aaronsburg
• Coburn
• Madisonburg
• Rebersburg
• Spring Mills
• Woodward

• Colyer
• Ingleby
• Farmers Mills
• Penn Hall
• Potters Mills
• Tusseyville

The Penns Valley Area School District is a small, rural, public school district serving the southeastern portions of Centre County, Pennsylvania. It encompasses an area of 254.4 square miles (659 km2). Primary education is conducted in three K-4th grade elementary schools; Centre Hall-Potter Township Elementary, Penns Valley Area Elementary, Rebersburg-Miles Township Elementary, and one district-wide combined 5th-6th grade Penns Valley Area Intermediate school operating concurrently with Penns Valley Area Elementary. The district's secondary educational needs are fulfilled by Penns Valley Junior-Senior High School which combines 7th through 12th grades. The district provides vocational education through the Central Pennsylvania Institute of Science and Technology in Pleasant Gap, Pennsylvania.

The Penns Valley Region is host to 12 private schools, the most in the county. Many of these schools are operated for the use of the large Amish community within Penns Valley.

• Bower Hollow Parochial School - Woodward
• Elk Creek School - Rebersburg
• Hill Side School - Rebersburg
• Kramer Gap School - Spring Mills
• Mountain View School - Rebersburg
• Peach Lane Amish School - Madisonburg
• Penns Valley Amish Paroch School - Woodward
• Rockville School - Rebersburg
• Spring Bank School - Rebersburg
• Sunset View School - Rebersburg
• Windy Poplars School - Centre Hall
• Woodside Amish School - Spring Mills

The Centre County Libraries has a branch in Centre Hall and operates a bookmobile that provides service to the Penns Valley area. The East Penns Valley Library has been an all volunteer library since 2013 after their split from the Center County Library system.

Sunset over U.S. Route 322 north of Potters Mills, Pennsylvania

Penns Valley has three main state routes that connect the valley both within itself and to the surrounding region. PA 144 is a north–south route that begins as a branch from US 322 in Potters Mills running through Centre Hall and crossing Nittany Mountain into Pleasant Gap and the Bellefonte area. PA 192 runs east–west through upper Penns Valley in the subordinate Brush Valley. This route acts as one of two connections from Union County into Centre County and State College. The second of these two routes is PA 45 which runs through the heart of Penns Valley connecting all the townships and boroughs, except Miles Township served by PA 192.

The only U.S. route in the area is US 322 which takes a unique form in Penns Valley as the smaller two-lane General Potter Highway linking the four-lane sections crossing the seven mountains and intersecting State College and Boalsburg. As of June 2013 plans have been proposed to increase this smaller section of US 322 through a Pennsylvania State Senate bill for infrastructure improvement.[20]

There are two public airfields in Penns Valley. Centre Airpark is a sod 3,100 ft airstrip located approximately two miles south of Centre Hall. It is privately owned and is host to ultralight air shows during the summer months.[21] Penns Cave Airport is an asphalt landing strip 4 miles east of Centre Hall and beside Penns Cave.[22]

The only private airfield in Penns Valley is Pennfield Farm located just west of Spring Mills off PA Route 45.[23]