State guide

Pennsylvania Nature Guide

Pennsylvania is a state of forested ridges and river valleys — the Appalachian ridge-and-valley country marching diagonally across its heart, the rolling Piedmont farmland of the southeast, and the cool Allegheny and Pocono highlands of the north. Two-thirds of the state is woodland, and that green spine funnels one of North America's great wildlife spectacles: the autumn raptor migration over Hawk Mountain, the late-winter Snow Goose staging at Middle Creek, spring warblers pouring through Presque Isle on Lake Erie, and the long Allegheny fall color. From USDA zone 5a in the northern-tier mountains to 7b in the warm southeastern Piedmont, the humid-continental seasons run sharp and full.