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Little Flat Lookout Tower
Little Flat Lookout Tower Note: when this article was published you could not drive to the tower itself. DCNR has since removed the gate to allow automobile access. The Little Flat fire tower is a great destination for a hike any time of year. Little Flat is the geographic name of an area on the northern edge of Greenlee Mountain only minutes from downtown State College. Several trails converge at this steel tower which overlooks Boalsburg and Lemont. A one-mile dirt road, closed to automobiles, provides the easiest way to reach Little Flat. With very little elevation gain, the road is appropriate for family hikes. Rugged off-road strollers are a common sight here. It's a good place to take a family bike ride assuming a two-mile ride is within your child's ability. The road is flat enough that single-speed kid's bikes work well, and it's all downhill returning. The lookout tower stands at the end of the road, inviting the adventurous to climb its steep staircases. Cruiser, my trusty Siberian Husky, shows instinctive common sense by wisely not following me up. The stairs are steep and narrow with steel railings that provide secure handholds. This tower used to be staffed by diligent forest service personnel looking for brush fires. Today it is abandoned, its purpose replaced by satellites and airplanes. That makes no difference to those who climb this rock solid tower in search of a view. The reward is excellent: a secure perch above the trees with a breathtaking view of Penns Valley and Mount Nittany. The elevation is roughly equal to being on top of Mount Nittany. The tower provides a stunning 360-degree view featuring some of central Pennsylvania's finest landscapes. Visit this tower once and you'll return again and again, especially as the leaves turn golden yellows and reds. I suggest you make a point to visit before daylight-saving time steals our evening light. Take some sandwiches and drinks up for an impromptu dinner excursion and you'll feel like you're on vacation, even though it's a weeknight. Next to the tower is an old log cabin that used to house the folks who worked in the tower. This beautiful, original rustic cabin has stood the test of time. Unfortunately, it can't protect itself against vandals who persist in damaging the chinking and scarring its woodwork. A generous front porch provides shelter from the elements. A hundred yards away is a large open field which is home to millions of blueberries in season. This also serves as one of Rothrock State Forest's helicopter pads. Hopefully, you won't need such assistance in leaving. In recent years, several large microwave towers have been erected on Little Flat, dwarfing the old fire tower. These are visible from state Rt. 322 and flash a series of blinking lights at night. I wish they weren't there, but with my own demands on modern communications, I probably support their existence -- a common paradox in our love of wild places and our love of technology. It's easy to forget those demands when you're walking along this ridgetop road approaching the tower. You may hear the sounds of rodents foraging in the brush. You may see a glimpse of birds overhead as they soar on thermals above the ridge. You may startle a grouse or pheasant. You may forget all about the bills, the job and the daily challenges of life for a while. And that, my friends, is why we all need to take a walk in the woods from time to time. Several trails, including the Mid-State, converge near the tower. I'll explain them in next week's column. For now, simply walk the road and climb the tower. You'll be glad you did.
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