Kittatinny Ridge Recognition and Identification Survey
The Kittatinny Ridge (the Ridge) is Pennsylvania’s longest contiguous forested ridge. This long mountain range is familiar to many. It is the large forested expanse that one can view to the left when you travel north on Interstate 81 from the Maryland border and continue east on Interstate 78. It’s where many go to play, relax, enjoy nature, and get away from it all.
This survey aims to create a better understanding of how residents and tourists alike use the Ridge and surrounding area for outdoor recreation, what they know about it, how people identify with the Ridge, what could improve their experiences, and what economic and conservation opportunities they see as priorities along the Ridge. Click here or on the image to the right to explore major features of the ridge.
We hope you’ll take a few minutes to complete the twelve-question survey and tell us a little bit about yourself. By completing our survey, you will get the chance to win great prizes from the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, including an Appalachian Trail Wild East poster, Osprey Daypack, or Hydro Flask Tumbler! Click here to take our survey, and enter to win a prize!
Who is sponsoring this survey?
The Appalachian Trail Conservancy, through a grant from the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), is partnering with Shippensburg University’s Center for Land Use and Sustainability (CLUS) and the Kittatinny Coalition to conduct this survey. The Kittatinny Coalition is supported by the DCNR. The Coalition is a group of organizations, agencies, and academic institutions working with municipal officials and private landowners to conserve the natural, scenic, cultural, and aesthetic resources of the Ridge. Primary partners include the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, Audubon Pennsylvania, and The Nature Conservancy.
Click here to take our survey, and enter to win a prize!
What is the purpose of this survey?
The Kittatinny Coalition and other conservation groups and state agencies may use the survey responses to consider and develop improved recreation opportunities, enhanced natural resource protection efforts, and a communication strategy that helps boost appreciation for, and fill knowledge gaps about, the Ridge.
Click here to take our survey, and enter to win a prize!
Tell me more about the Kittatinny Ridge!
The Kittatinny Ridge (Ridge) is a 500 square mile landscape that stretches from Maryland to the Delaware Water Gap in Pennsylvania, and extends into New York and New Jersey. The Leni-Lenape tribe of Native Americans who inhabited the region named the Ridge “Kittatinny,” meaning “the endless mountain.” The Ridge is also known by other names such as Kittatinny Mountain in eastern PA, Blue, First, North, or Second in Central PA and the “Tuscarora” in Franklin County.
In Pennsylvania, The Appalachian National Scenic Trail, a 2,191-mile footpath only trail that stretches from Georgia to Maine, follows the Ridge’s spine for approximately 160 miles from Cumberland County to the Delaware Water Gap. The Ridge is a key migratory flyway, a Global Important Bird Area (IBA) for tens of thousands of migrating hawks, falcons, eagles, butterflies, and migrating songbirds, and an important wildlife corridor.
In Pennsylvania, the Ridge comprises 12 counties and 137 municipalities, five state parks, three state forests, numerous State Game lands and one National Wildlife Refuge. The land along the Ridge is under private, state, and federal ownership. Recently, the Kittatinny Ridge was designated by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) as one of eight Conservation Landscapes in the Commonwealth. Conservation Landscapes are located in regions where there are strong natural assets, local support, and state-level investment. They are driven by values of conservation, sustainability, and community revitalization.
Click here to take our survey, and enter to win a prize!
Tell us your thoughts!
By completing our survey, you will get the chance to win great prizes from the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, including an Appalachian Trail Wild East poster, Osprey Daypack, or Hydro Flask Tumbler!
The survey was produced with financial assistance from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources from the Environmental Stewardship Fund through the Bureau of Recreation and Conservation.
