Hollidaysburg Long View #13589

The Story

This is a clear view of Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, in a winter landscape of new snow and sunshine taken from Chimney Rocks overlook. Some historic canal era houses from the 1830s line the foreground in front of the old canal basin, today filled in with railroad tracks. Being such a clear day, you can see out to the beginning of the beautiful blue Allegheny mountains beyond to where Altoona lies in the distance. Route 36 north going over the bridge will take you there. The road goes through town and passes many landmarks, like the tall First Presbyterian church steeple and the Blairmont Country Club golf course. The scenery literally goes for miles, all the way to Altoona in the distance.

Not many towns have such a great place to see themselves in the landscape from above as Chimney Rocks overlook. This natural rock outcropping is just across from Hollidaysburg. In fact, to have such an overlook above any town is rather unusual. The overlooking rocks are at the top of a nearby high ridge and can be seen from anywhere in town. This winter snow landscape picture is taken from the highest of two prime viewing places.

Through time, many people have climbed to the top for the astounding scenery. In recent years, the area was bought by the boro of Hollidaysburg and developed into a park for ease of access together with a picnic area and restrooms. You can easily walk to the lower view, but the upper view is still a pretty good uphill hike.

To have a snowfall followed by a sunny day doesn’t happen very often. It’s clearly something to take advantage of to make a winter snow landscape. With some effort, I climbed the upper trail in eight inches of powder snow in the beautiful winter woods and came to the top. From this high view of Hollidaysburg, any detail in town could be easily seen. The entire valley all the way back to Altoona was laid out in white with the Allegheny mountains in blue in the background. This dramatic landscape scenery is what has made the climb a worthy one for thousands of people through time. People have been coming here for the view for a long time, and Native Americans did too long before white settlers even showed up.

Above is a full panorama of Hollidaysburg, click on the picture to see it larger. Would you like to see more of this old historic town? In a different season, there’s an interesting Hollidaysburg panorama taken in summer sunshine titled Hollidaysburg Summer View #14894. Click on this link to learn more about Chimney Rocks Park.

Location: taken from Chimney Rocks above Hollidaysburg, Blair County, Pennsylvania. Picture and story ©Andrew Dierks