Elevation change: 112 ft. for Inner Loop, 135 ft. for Outer Loop.
Average Grade: 2%. Notable hills: 
 

Park St. Descent:	83 foot drop in half a mile from Atherton St to the Bike Path. 3.1% grade. On Outer Loop only.
High School Hill:	A climb of 112 ft in about a third of a mile from the State College High School North Building to the corner of Gill St. and W. Nittany Ave. An average grade of 5.7%, but the short section of the path next the High School is even steeper.

 

Inner Loop Start: Start on N. Atherton St. directly across from Rec Hall and head south. Make a right on the path along the parking lot next to the athletic fields and the ARL Water Tunnel. Go left at the end of the lot and head between the ARL buildings to the long parking lot that parallels W. College Ave. (This first part of the run is identical to the end of the Golf Course Perimeter run, done in reverse. This roundabout meandering through alleys and parking lots keeps you off of busy W. College Ave. as much as possible.) Continue along the parking lot/alleyway until just before the start of the cinder golf course path behind Nittany Beverage and make a left at Patterson St. Make an immediate right at the next alley (leading to O. W. Houts). Cut across the Houts parking lot and cross W. College Ave. A block later, make a left on Osmond St. Go left on Corl St. and take that two blocks to Westerly Parkway, where you make a right. The next street is Madison St., where you go left. Your mapmaker, Marty Mazur, lives at 313 Madison. Madison St. ends at Myrtle St. Go right on Myrtle and left on McBath St, a short block later. This is where the Outer and Inner Loops merge.

Outer Loop Start: Begin running the Golf Course Figure 6 loop in reverse. Start on N. Atherton St directly across from Rec Hall and head north. Follow the Penn State Golf Course bike path as it makes a left on Park St. At the bottom Park St, the path continues on to Corl Road (Do not follow the part of the bike path that heads off to the right. That's a different running route.) . Follow the bike path as it curves to the left along Corl Rd. About 150 yards later, after cresting a short hill, there will be a road on the left that leads toward some golf course service buildings and the Blue Course clubhouse. Make this left and follow the road as it winds past a parking lot, the clubhouse, and parts of the Blue Golf Course. The Clubhouse Road finally exits the golf course nearly a mile later onto W. College Avenue. Make a left and carefully cross the street. Make the next right at Middle St. The street forks a block later. Take the left fork onto McBath St. and continue two long blocks to Myrtle St., where the Outer and Inner Loops merge.

The Finish. Now for some more zig-zagging: Make a right on Fairchild Lane, then a left on Highpoint Cove. Go right on Broadmoor Lane and continue to where it ends on Blue Course Drive, making a left. You're done zig-zagging. Follow Blue Course about a quarter-mile to the entrance to Orchard Park, which is at the corner of Blue Course Drive and Bayberry Drive. Get on the bike path. This path winds through the park and part of the adjoining neighborhood, and then goes through the south athletic fields of the State College Area High School (the track is on top of the small hill to the left). When the bike path meets Westerly Parkway, carefully cross the street on continue on the path as it heads up a very steep rise. The path ends on Gill St at the top of the steep part, but the hill keeps rising for a couple more blocks. Continue on Gill St., carefully crossing Beaver Ave. and W. College Ave. Gill St. ends in a parking lot for some businesses. Here you can take a path to the adjacent University lots (where you started the run), and finish as you started.
 
Winter Route: During the winter, the bike paths can be snow covered and icy. Though the part of the Outer Loop that must be run on a bike path is relatively short and can be traversed when there is a light snow cover, there is no convenient way around the Golf Course bike path in more treacherous conditions. The Outer Loop must be avoided during the worst parts of winter. You can keep running the Inner Loop all winter, however. You can avoid the icy bike path in Orchard Park by taking the following alternate route. At Blue Course Dr and Bayberry Drive, make a left on Bayberry instead of running on the Orchard Park bike path. Make a right at Saxton Drive. Continue on Saxton until it ends at Westerly Parkway. Cross Westerly, make a left, and then go immediately right on West Hamilton Ave. Take Hamilton to Gill St and make a left. Finish as above. The Winter Route adds 0.1 miles to the either Orchard Park Loop.