| Route: | The Deer Pens Loop | ||||||||
| Mileage: | 7.7 - 8.0 | ||||||||
| Hillage: | The Deer Pens Loop contains a number of steep hills.
Elevation change: 203 ft.
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| Description: | Start in front of Rec Hall and head down
Curtin Rd., dodging students all the way to Porter Rd., next to Beaver Stadium.
Make a left on Porter and carefully head past the light at Park Avenue, where
Porter Rd. becomes Fox Hollow Rd. Continue on Fox Hollow Rd as it descend
for almost a mile to underpass, and then as it climbs for another mile-and-a-half.
After passing the entrance to the Toftrees development, the road bends to
the right. About a third of a mile after this bend is an entrance to some
University land on the right. A sign near the road says "ARL Steam Plant".
Take a right here. Run for about three-quarters of a mile on this gravel
road past some University agricultural fields. The road starts sloping downhill
and bends to the left. Just past the bend, there is a road that heads steeply
down hill to the right. Make this right and run past the Penn State Deer
Pens. Take a minute to see if the deer are nearby. At the bottom of the hill
is the gravel portion of Big Hollow Road. Go right here. head back to Fox
Hollow Road. Make a left and carefully cross Fox Hollow Rd, making an immediate
right just past the overpass onto the macadam portion of Big Hollow Rd. Take
Big Hollow Rd for about 1½ miles as it makes a wide bend, goes up
"4 Hills", and ends up at Services Rd. next to the Penn State Salvage Building.
Go right on Services Rd., follow it as it bears left and becomes Bigler Rd.
Carefully cross Park Avenue and continue on Bigler Rd. to Curtin Rd. Take
a right on Curtin Rd. and head back to Rec Hall. Option: On a hot day, you can add a pleasant three-tenths of a mile to the above loop just past the halfway point, when you need it most. On the University gravel road above the Deer Pens, about a third of a mile from Fox Hollow Rd, another gravel road heads off to the left. Take this as it heads toward a hedgerow of tall trees. The road then goes right along those tall, shady trees and then heads back to meet the main route at the intersection of the road down to the Deer Pens. |
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| Remarks: | The Deer Pens Loop provides a moderately long training route on both macadam and gravel surfaces
that combines flat portions, steep hills, open spaces, and shade. About two
thirds of the way into the run, you can take a break and look at the deer
in the University Deer Pens. There are some native and exotic species.
The Deer Pens Loop is a nearly three mile extension of the 4 Hills Loop. It also links up with many
other popular running routes, including the East
Aaron Loops, the Town Loops, the Tunnel Loop, and the Toftrees
Loop, and can be run in combination with pieces of these routes to make even longer runs.
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