| Route: | Centre Hills Loop |
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| Mileage: | 8.5 | ||||||||
| Hillage: | Rolling, with very long, but not
very steep hills.
Elevation change: 275 ft.
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| Description: | The Centre Hills Loop has become
a favorite for the occasional long lunchtime runs the Rec Hall Regulars
do. The course is challenging, particularly the long final hill, which
is also the final ascent of the Nittany Valley Half-Marathon. An option
to go through the Millbrook Marsh wildlife area will takes about 0.1
miles off the distance, and will give you some pretty scenery.
Start
from Rec Hall by going south on Burrowes Rd. Burrowes stops at
Fairmount Ave, but a path will take you down to Prospect. Make a left
on Prospect, a right on Allen, then a left on Irvin. Go right on
Pugh St, continuing across Easterly Parkway and then up the hill to
Nimitz. Go left on Nimitz and follow it across University Drive. Nimitz
ends at a pathway that heads down some steep steps to Sandpiper Dr.
Make a left on Sandpiper and continue to Branch Rd. Go left on Branch
being careful because of the traffic and the narrow shoulder. Carefully
cross Branch as it rises and make a right onto Hunter Avenue. Hunter
climbs for about half a mile, at which point you will see the Bike Path
that parallels the Rte 322 Bypass. Zig-zag to the Bike Path and make a
left. You will be on the path for over a mile-and-a-half. Be careful
when the path crosses Branch Rd. because traffic can be heavy there. The
Bike Path intersects Puddintown Rd. and then makes a left to parallel
it for a bit. The Bike Path then ends. Continue running on the narrow
shoulder of Puddintown, being watchful of traffic. Make the right at
Orchard Rd. Orchard is very narrow for a couple of hundred yards, with
a blind curve in the road. Run on the right side of the street around
this curve. The road then widens and starts up a the last long hill of
the run. Orchard gets steeper as it nears Park Ave Make a left on Park,
then a left on Porter. The long climb ends at the statue of JoePa at
Beaver Stadium. Make a right on Curtin Rd and follow Curtin back to Rec
Hall. Variations: There is a
boardwalk pathway through Millbrook Marsh that affords about half a
mile of some great wetland scenery. The pathway meets the Bike Path
along Rte 322 Bypass about half a mile after it passes under College
Avenue. It is not a boardwalk at this point, and is s bit hard to find
unless you've gone that way before. It is easier to spot on the other
end, at Puddintown Rd and Orchard. Rd. This variation is a bit more
than 0.1 miles shorter than the given route. |
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| Remarks: | The Bike Path along Rte 322 also
heads to the southeast (right) for another half mile from where this
route picks it up at Hunter Avenue. It ends in the Canterbury Crossing
and Panorama Village development near South Atherton St. and Scenery
Drive. |
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| Map: |
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| Profile: |
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