Ah, State College. For many visitors, coming here is a pilgrimage back to ye olde college stomping grounds. But others travel to Central Pennsylvania on business or for reasons unrelated to tailgates or graduation; they never drank the Nittany Lion Kool-Aid and are not sure what all the blue-and-white hype is about, or where to go to find out about it.

Tons of families converge in State College for one main reason in the fall: Penn State football. But many alumni who are happy to be back in the valley for a few days bring with them something they didn’t have when they were Penn State students: Kids!

Emblematic of the ruggedly spectacular Ridge and Valley region of the Appalachian Mountains, central Pennsylvania’s 96,250 acre Rothrock State Forest treats adventure lovers to a medley of panoramic ridgelines, rhododendron-sprinkled valleys, spruce-fringed wetlands, and vast swaths of mixed-oak forest.

Central Pennsylvania’s State College is a truly happy place for avid anglers. It’s recognized as one of the Keystone State’s best trout fishing destinations with more than 216 miles of trout fishing waters. But trout is not all you can catch in the areas waterways, perch, catfish, and bass are also abundant. Whether you fly fish or cast a line from the shore, here are the places to drop a line in Centre County.