Penns Creek from Penns View

By Laurie

Some time ago, while sorting through a box of old photos, I found a photo of a mountain vista my father had taken. My mother had identified it on the back as “Penns Creek from Penns View – 8/5/39”. I have a list of vistas in Pennsylvania that I would like to see sometime, but this wasn’t one I had ever heard of. I did some research and based on other photos I found, I added it to my list. Recently we were traveling to State College for a wedding, so we took advantage of the nice weather to go to Penns View first.

Penns View is a 50 yard clearing on the summit of Poe Mountain, above Penns Valley and Penns Creek, in Poe Paddy State Park. The overlook is about 1000 feet above the valley below. The view is northerly and encompasses about 135˚. Some of the town of Coburn is visible through Penns Valley just to the left of the center of the photo. Penns Creek flows through that valley and then makes several loops which can be partially seen from left to right across the photo. The photo my father took captures only the last leg flowing away (to the northeast) at the right side of my photo. In his photo, there are more mountains visible to the right, which are now blocked by trees.

My photos were taken from a rock at the right side of the clearing that provides a slight elevation to see over the underbrush growing up at the top of the mountain. This panorama is five separate images merged into one.

Penns Creek is Pennsylvania’s longest limestone stream, flowing easterly from its headwaters at Penn’s Cave, several miles north of Spring Mills on PA Route 45, to Selinsgrove, where it flows into the Susquehanna River.