State College, Pennsylvania, may be best known as a college town, but that’s not the only reason that people decide to spend time there. Located in central Pennsylvania and surrounded by protected forest, State College is filled with outdoor experiences to enjoy that have nothing to do with a football field. Locals have long known what more and more people are discovering—that State College is a great place to spend time outside. Here are some of their favorite spots to explore.

State College is a playground for a variety of tastes and lifestyles. Whether you like outdoor activities, retail therapy or intellectual pursuits, this area is ripe with opportunities each and every day.

Whether you’ve lived here for decades or are just settling into our region, there are many levels to being “local.” From standards like Arts Fest to deep tracks like Meyer Dairy, here are several ways to experience the area like a true local at every level.

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!

State College may be the heart of Centre County, but the rolling farmlands, meandering creeks and quiet beauty of the surrounding valleys is part of what makes this area such a great place to live and visit. And it doesn’t get prettier than Penns Valley.

Just a few miles from State College down Rte. 322 East is Boalsburg, a quaint little village with a rich history and a proud heritage. The village was mostly developed between 1809 and 1848, and was named Boalsburg in 1820 after the influential Boal family, whose 200-year-old estate is now a unique museum of American and Pennsylvania history there.

As home to Penn State University’s main campus, State College gets most of the glory in Centre County. But a beautiful borough 12 miles to the north has been an important piece of Pennsylvania’s history. Bellefonte, settled in 1795 and incorporated in 1806, is the county seat and has produced five of the Commonwealth’s governors plus two others who served as governors elsewhere (in California and Kansas). The contributions of all seven are commemorated with a memorial in Talleyrand Park.

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.