The Kittatinny Ridge Conservation Project

Image: The Kittatinny Ridge is the eastern edge of Pennsylvania’s Ridge and Valley Region.

The Kittatinny Ridge Project, led by Audubon Pennsylvania, is a collaborative effort of local, regional, and state organizations and agencies to focus public attention on the importance of the 185-mile long forested Ridge through Pennsylvania; and to promote conservation activities to protect the Ridge from further habitat loss, fragmentation, and inappropriate land use.

The Kittatinny Ridge, also known as Blue Mountain, is a long mountain ridge that winds 185 miles through eastern and central Pennsylvania, to the Maryland line. The Ridge is a globally-significant fall migration flyway used annually by tens of thousands of raptors and vultures and millions of songbirds, and has been designated by Audubon Pennsylvania, as the largest of the state’s “Important Bird Areas.” The many rock outcroppings along the ridge also make it an excellent place to watch migrating hawks, eagles and vultures. Hawk Mountain Sanctuary and Audubon’s Hawk Watch at Waggoner’s Gap are located along the Ridge.

Kittatinny Ridge Conservation Corridor includes 160 miles of the Appalachian Trail; and serves as a vital link in the Appalachian Forest that stretches the length of the East, providing critical, high quality interior-forest habitat for dozens of species of songbirds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians. The Ridge also protects important drinking water supplies and stream habitat.

The AT runs, over all, 229 miles through the Pennsylvania Mountains. The Appalachian Trail follows ridges of mountains east of the Alleghenies to the Susquehanna River in a long section of Trail notorious for its foot-bruising, boot-destroying rocks. The Trail north of the Susquehanna is characterized by long, flat, rocky ridges broken by fairly strenuous climbs in and out of gaps.
About ten miles south of the Susquehanna River, the Trail crosses the Great Valley of the Appalachians to the Blue Ridge. This southern portion of the Trail through Pennsylvania has many sections that are gentle, and grades are easy, making it one of the easiest sections of the Trail.

Pennsylvania can be oppressively hot in summer, and water may be scarce. The Trail crosses many roads, and some shelters are near roads, where scattered crime problems make extra safety awareness a good idea.


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