Nittany Lion Shrine

The Nittany Lion takes its name from Mount Nittany, the distinctive ridge that rises east of campus, and from the eastern mountain lions that once hunted these central Pennsylvania forests before they were driven out. When Penn State needed a symbol in the early 1900s, a student proposed the Nittany Lion, and it stuck, becoming one of the most recognized mascots in American college life.

The land itself sits in the ancestral homeland of the Susquehannock people, whose name lives on in the great river to the south, and whose descendant nations continue elsewhere today. Native trails once threaded these long parallel ridges, and Mount Nittany carries its own layered local legends about a maiden named Nita-Nee, told and retold in the valley for generations.

The shrine was the gift of the Penn State class of 1940 and was carved by the sculptor Heinz Warneke, who worked the figure from a single large block of Indiana limestone weighing many tons. Rather than a roaring, aggressive beast, Warneke chose to show the lion crouched and alert, calm and dignified, a choice that has made it feel enduring rather than fierce.

Dedicated in 1942, the sculpture quickly became the emotional center of the campus. Its openness is part of its power, there is no fence or barrier, and visitors are welcome to walk right up, sit on the surrounding stone, and touch the lion, which countless hands have smoothed over the decades. That intimacy is exactly what has made it so beloved.

For Penn State students and alumni, the shrine is woven into the milestones of life. New students are welcomed near it, graduates pose beside it in cap and gown, and returning alumni bring their families to introduce them to the lion. On home football weekends, a steady stream of visitors in blue and white makes their way to the grove.

The reverence around the shrine has occasionally spilled into rivalry, and the sculpture has needed protection and repair over the years, which only deepened its status as something to be cherished and guarded. Today it stands as a quiet emblem of continuity, connecting each new generation to those who came before them in Happy Valley.

Autumn is the most electric time to visit, when football season fills State College with fans and the shrine sees a constant flow of photos amid the turning leaves of the surrounding ridges. Commencement seasons in spring and winter bring waves of graduates and their families to the grove.

Summer is quieter and green, a pleasant time to enjoy the shaded grove and the broader campus, including the university's arboretum and gardens, without the crowds. Winter dusts the lion with snow and hushes the campus, a serene time for anyone who wants the shrine mostly to themselves.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.