Like most kids who grew up living and breathing skateboarding, Tommy Ries knew about Camp Woodward — the elite skills-building camp for aspiring athletes — he just didn’t know where it was. “I don’t think I’d ever even been in the state of Pennsylvania before I visited,” he recalls. By 2012, he’d made the drive (albeit one that included a speeding ticket right around DuBois on I-80). And as soon as he took the Pleasant Gap exit and headed up over the Centre Hall mountain, he fell in love.

The Home of Family Fun & Famous Food

Come join us for an amazing family fun day at DelGrosso’s Park with great amusement park rides and the awesome Laguna Splash Water Park.

Visit the fabulous Columbus Chapel & Boal Mansion Museum, opened in 1953 and now open year‑round by reservation.

Bear Lodges, three non‑traditional B&Bs located in Pennsylvania Grand Canyon country, offers a unique, remote, peaceful grownup getaway. “Bear Lodges are not just accommodations… they’re the destination,” says owner Jim Meade. “Anniversary couples, rail trail bicyclists, birders, dark skies and other outdoors enthusiasts wanting to access wilderness, enjoy this getaway.”

After two years as a virtual event, the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts returns to downtown State College and Penn State’s University Park campus from July 14-17, 2022. Children and Youth Day will be Wednesday, July 13.

The Arboretum at Penn State, located at Penn State’s University Park campus, is a special Happy Valley treasure. The H.O. Smith Botanic Gardens, open daily from dawn until dusk, offer visitors ten acres of specialty gardens. Beyond the gardens lie fields and woodlands for hiking, biking, and observing wildlife. Admission is free.

Happy Valley winters got a little happier with the addition of an ice-skating rink in historic Bellefonte’s picturesque Talleyrand Park. Now visitors have another activity to enjoy along the banks of Spring Creek, just a short walk away from downtown’s cafes, restaurants and shops.

The Bellefonte Art Museum for Centre County and The Makery of State College are pleased to announce the opening of “The Makery at the Museum”, a dedicated, delightful children’s art studio on the second floor of the Bellefonte Art Museum.

Get your hot-off-the-press Happy Valley Inspiration Guide soon! We are working on posting the digital version now and plan to have the printed version available by January 31, 2022.