The Blue Mountain - Kittatinny Ridge Project is a collaborative effort of local, regional, and state organizations and agencies to focus public attention on the importance of Blue Mountain and the Kittatinny Ridge; and to help foster good stewardship of the Ridge for future generations.

Goals of the Blue Mountain - Kittatinny Ridge Project

• Develop a long-term vision for the Ridge as a unique natural corridor through an open, public-input process
• Develop tools and programs to help empower citizens, local governments, landowners, and civic groups to implement the vision at the local level

What Is The Kittatinny Ridge?
Blue Mountain and Kittatinny Ridge are names for a long mountain ridge that PA, almost to the Maryland state line. It crosses 11 counties, where it is known locally in eastern PA as Kittatinny Mountain, in central PA as Blue or North Mountain, and in Franklin County as Front Mountain.

The Ridge is one of Pennsylvania’s most prominent natural features, forming the eastern-most edge of the “ridge and valley” region — a forested series of folds in the earth’s crust that uniquely defines the landscape of the southeast quadrant of Pennsylvania.

Traveling north and west from the more populous urban and suburban regions of southeast Pennsylvania, the first major landform encountered is the Kittatinny Ridge. Nearly 326,000 people live in the numerous boroughs and townships along the Ridge; and another 1.5 million people live within 20 miles of the Ridge and see it regularly as a part of their landscape. A growing number of Pennsylvanians depend on the natural resources of the Ridge for their business, their recreation, their drinking water, or their home.

Millions of Pennsylvanians and hundreds of communities value the Ridge for scenic beauty, recreational opportunities, water supplies, and wildlife habitat. The Ridge has national importance as a critical habitat link in the magnificent Appalachian Forest that stretches the length of the East, and as a corridor for the world famous Appalachian Trail.

Thousands of hikers each year use the Appalachian Trail, that runs along the Kittatinny Ridge for 85 miles from the Delaware River to the Susquehanna.

The Ridge is where we hike, watch soaring hawks, ride bicycles, hunt deer, fish for trout, and enjoy beautiful fall colors. It is the background of virtually every vista in the region, enhancing the attractiveness of our communities for residents and businesses. And for many, it is where we live, work, and raise our children.

A Valued Resource for Wildlife & People
The Kittatinny Ridge is recognized as a "globally significant" migration flyway in spring and fall for thousands of hawks and eagles and millions of songbirds; and has been officially designated by Audubon as the state’s largest "Important Bird Area."

Bird watching enthusiasts at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, Bake Oven Knob, and Waggoner’s Gap record 14,000 to 20,000 birds of prey each year that use the Ridge for autumn migration.

The Ridge provides the headwaters for many of the streams in south-central and southeast Pennsylvania, protecting drinking water and providing clean fresh-water habitat for fish.

The interior forests of the Ridge also provides some of the best wildlife habitat in the state. In short, the Kittatinny Ridge is a valuable natural resource that defines our region and enhances our quality of life.

Why Does the Ridge Need Our Attention Now?
The Ridge’s quiet, natural beauty and undisturbed wildlife habitat is being threatened by urban sprawl, an overabundance of deer, illegal dumping, and in-appropriate land use.

Without a clear vision of how to conserve this valuable resource, it will become steadily degraded and diminished for current residents and future generations.

What Else Should People Know About the Kittatinny Ridge Project?

• Input from landowners, local officials, community leaders, businesses, and the general public will help determine the conservation vision and future of the Kittatinny Ridge.
• Landowner participation will be strictly voluntary. A “conservation toolbox” will be developed to assist landowners and local governments in implementing protection measures.
• The Kittatinny Ridge Coalition is a growing alliance of leaders representing sportsmen, conservation groups, business and industry, watershed associations, landowners, government officials, and tourism agencies. (See below for a list of coalition members.)
• The Project is funded by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources’ Community Conservation Partnership Program, and the William Penn Foundation.

Kittatinny Coalition Members
Appalachian Mountain Club
Audubon Pennsylvania
Appalachian Trail Conference
Berks County Conservancy
Central Pennsylvania Conservancy
Delaware & Lehigh Natural Heritage Corridor
Eastern Forest Partnership
Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Association
Kittatinny & Pinnacle Association
Natural Lands Trust
National Wild Turkey Federation, Pa. Chapter
Pennsylvania Deer Association
Pa. Department of Conservation & Natural Resources
Pennsylvania Environmental Council
Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmens' Clubs
Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission
Pennsylvania Land Trust Association
Pennsylvania Partnerships for Conservation
Schuylkill Headwaters Association
Schuylkill River Greenway Association
The Conservation Fund
The Nature Conservancy of Pennsylvania
Wildlands Conservancy
Wildlife Information Center

Project Supporters
Berks County Board of Commissioners
Berks County Conservation District Board
Berks County Planning Commission
Carbon County Board of Commissioners
Cumberland County Board of Commissioners
Dauphin County Board of Commissioners
Lebanon County Board of Commissioners
Lehigh County Office of County Executive
Monroe County Board of Commissioners
Perry County Conservation District
Schuylkill County Board of Commissioners

Kittatinny Ridge Facts

Did You Know?

• The Kittatinny Ridge corridor winds through 12 counties and 134 municipalities in Pennsylvania.
• Rain and snow falling on the Ridge supplies the water for 13 lakes and reservoirs, and is the origin of 42 creeks and 39 runs.
• The Ridge is an important regional economic resource. The local economic benefit from birdwatching at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary alone is estimated at over $4.5 million each year.
• Throughout the Blue Mountain – Kittatinny Ridge corridor, there are 4 state parks, 4 state forests, 11 state game lands, and a national park trail

Important Recreation Area
State game lands, state forests, and state parks along the Ridge are important places for many forms of outdoor recreation, including: hunting, fishing, hiking, bird and wildlife watching, cross-country skiing, bicycling, nature photography, and viewing fall colors. It is also an internationally-popular destination for hiking and hawk watching.

Forests for Wildlife and People

• The Kittatinny Ridge is the largest uninterrupted forest area in central and eastern Pennsylvania. It provides important habitat for black bear and bobcat, numerous species of small mammals, amphibians, reptiles, and insects.
• The forests of the Ridge are tremendous assets: economically for timber, other forest resources, and recreation; and biologically as intact forest habitat and corridors for wildlife.
• The Kittatinny Ridge is an important recreation destination for many people, as it is the first really large block of forestland encountered when traveling from southeast Pennsylvania.

An Important Place for Birds

• The Kittatinny Ridge is extremely important for bird migration, and is used annually by more than 150 different species.
• The Ridge is Pennsylvania’s most important migration route for raptors (birds of prey such as hawks, falcons and eagles) and for vultures. Each fall, tens of thousands of raptors and vultures use the ridge for the updrafts to make their long-distance journey south.
• Millions of songbirds also use the Ridge’s forests as stopover habitat during their migration through PA.
• The large blocks of unfragmented forest throughout the Ridge are key breeding sites for many interior forest birds, including Wood Thrush, Ovenbird, Scarlet Tanager, Red-eyed Vireo, and Hooded, Worm-eating, and Black-throated Green Warblers.

Many citizens and communities along the Kittatinny are increasingly concerned that the current vistas from the Ridge could be destroyed by unplanned growth.