MINGOVILLE OUADRANGLE
The Mingoville quadrangle directly east of Bellefonte is mostly developed farmland. The area does possess the highest concentration of calcareous soils in the county and, though it was examined fairly closely, the scale of this inventory did not permit the detailed examination the area deserves. It has several interesting places, but few that were large enough to be considered significant. The Greens Valley Road site is in part on the Mingoville quadrangle but is discussed in the Centre Hall quadrangle text. The Roaring Run site is also partially on this quadrangle, but it will be covered in the Madisonburg section which follows.
Managed areas on the quadrangle include the Bald Eagle State Forest, which runs along the top of Nittany Mountain and includes the upper part of Hecla Gap. This ravine has a fairly nice hemlock forest that is regularly used for recreation. Because hikers and horseback riders use the valley, it would be advisable to improve and maintain the valley trail from where it enters the Gap to where it joins the road on State Forest Land. This trail is along a steep hillside that, in a few places, is eroding into Little Fishing Creek.
The Bald Eagle State Park is also on the Mingoville quadrangle. This area includes the Foster Joseph Sayers Lake previously described in the Howard quadrangle text. This man-made reservoir is used for recreation in summer and flood control in spring. The surrounding lands, also part of the Bald Eagle State Forest, are successional fields populated mostly by introduced species of plants.
State Game Lands No.92 on the Mingoville quadrangle is a 950 acre public hunting land consisting largely of second growth oak and wildlife clearings. It also includes tributaries to the Foster Joseph Sayers Lake.