There’s nothing like living in State College, PA with its sports venues, museums, and outdoor attractions. If you’re looking for things to do in State College, here are some local attractions worth visiting.
Arboretum at Penn State University
E Park Ave & Bigler Rd
State College, PA
814-865-9118
This 395-acre arboretum is home to the H.O. Smith Botanic Gardens, which harbors a vast living plant collection, including 1,100 plant species and over 28,000 individual plants. Guests can look forward to seasonal blooms like fragrant honeysuckle, Persian buttercup, wild hydrangea, and violas, just to name a few. Click here to view photos from the Arboretum.
The Display Garden serves as the focal point of the Arboretum with tall hedges and rotational plantings. Visitors also have access to several gardens and groves, including the Rose & Fragrance Garden and Oasis Garden & Lotus Pool.
Highlights include the education center, conservatory, planetarium, and multi-purpose complex. The education center provides insight into the flora in the gardens while the planetarium, better known as the Digital Visualization Theatre, offers a range of educational and personal enrichment programs.
Beaver Stadium at Penn State
1 Beaver Stadium
University Park, PA
+1 814-863-1000
Penn State is known for having one of the most esteemed college football programs in the United States, and Beaver Stadium reflects that prestige. Widely considered a college football Mecca, this massive stadium is home to the Nittany Lions, drawing thousands of sports fans from all over Pennsylvania in the fall.
Built in 1909, this 107,282-seat stadium is the third-largest in the world, with a 10,000-seat upper deck, 4,000 club seats, several concessions, and 60 luxury suites for visitors coming from out of town. It was named after former judge James A. Beaver, who was one of the most prominent figures in the university.
Come to the stadium for an exhilarating football match or impress the football fan in your life. Aside from sports events, the stadium also hosts concerts and other shows.
Pegula Ice Arena
250 University Drive
University Park, PA
This state-of-the-art, multi-purpose arena is home to Penn State’s hockey program and hosts high-profile sports events such as the American Hockey League and National Hockey League games. It also hosts ice shows and various on-ice events that the whole family will enjoy.
Venue highlights include the main ice arena, where the central competition ice arena is located, and which has a seating capacity of roughly 6,000. Pegula Ice Arena also has a practice rink, player areas, locker rooms, and offices.
Named for Kim and Terry Pegula, whose donations made the construction of the new stadium possible, this sports venue gives college athletes a venue for pursuing their passions and improving their skills.
Bryce Jordan Center
University Park, PA
814-865-5555
Built in 1996, the venue is named in honor of former Penn State president Bryce Jordan and plays an integral role in major university events. The center is a massive multi-purpose arena with an impressive 15,261 seats. Aside from the arena bowl, the venue offers flexible meeting spaces that can accommodate trade shows, training sessions, private banquets, and other gatherings.
Home to the Pride of the Lions Pep Band and the Nittany Lions Women’s and Men’s NCAA Division 1 Basketball teams, the Bryce Jordan Center hosts league basketball games, commencement ceremonies, concerts, and other events.
The Bryce Jordan Center Concourse offers an on-site dining experience with chef-prepare and pre-made meals. Concessions include The Roaring Grill, which serves chicken tenders, fries, ice cream, and more.
Palmer Museum of Art
Curtin Rd, University Park
814-865-7672
This free-admission art museum at Penns State harbors over 10,000 artworks and artifacts spanning many cultures, centuries, and art movements. Their permanent collection includes American and European paintings, sculptures, prints, and photographs, contemporary American, European, and Asian ceramics, and ancient American, European, African, and Near Eastern cultural pieces. Rotating exhibits have featured the works of artists like illustrator Lucille Corcos and painter Warren Rohrer.
The Palmer Museum of Art typically hosts nine exhibitions across eleven galleries each year. The museum also features an outdoor sculpture garden and a 150-seat auditorium.
Discovery Space
1224 N Atherton St
State College, PA
+1 814-234-0200
This child-friendly attraction promotes STEM learning in a fun and immersive environment. The center organizes age-appropriate classes, experiments, and activities to pique your child’s interest and spark their imagination. Other highlights include the marine life exhibit, treasure hunts, and STEM camps. Discovery Space offers virtual cooking classes and volunteer opportunities for the older set.
Millbrook Marsh Nature Center
548 Puddintown Rd
State College, PA
814-235-7819
On this massive 62-acre property, you’ll find an idyllic 12-acre farmstead and over 50 acres of unspoiled wetlands and marsh ecosystems with hiking trails and boardwalks. Another highlight, the Spring Creek Education Building, is a LEED Silver Certified building designed to help visitors learn more about the natural world. The Millbrook Marsh Nature also features a wetland laboratory, picnic pavilion, and a beautifully restored bank barn.
Live close to these attractions when you move to State College, PA and the surrounding communities. Contact the Heritage Realty Group, Inc. here. You can also call us at 814.231.0101 or send an email to RLHoman363(at)gmail(dotted)com for inquiries. With more than 100 years of combined experience, we’ve been assisting buyers and sellers in the State College area since 1987.