Embrace Winter, Welcome Signs of Spring at the Nature Inn at Bald Eagle

HARRISBURG, Pa., Feb. 2, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Visitors to Pennsylvania's Nature Inn at Bald Eagle in Centre County can enjoy an up-close experience with nature, no matter what the weather.  

"The Nature Inn at Bald Eagle provides a cozy place to rest, while offering visitors a sampling of what the great outdoors has to offer in the winter and early spring months," PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Bureau of State Parks Director John Norbeck said.  

Opened last fall, the Nature Inn offers visitors comfortable amenities such as an inviting bed and complimentary breakfast. Its green features, including solar panels, rain collection cisterns and native plantings, are meant to inspire guests and promote conservation.

The inn overlooks a more than 1,700-acre lake at Bald Eagle State Park.

"Because of the recent frigid weather, the ice fishing on the lake is the best it's been in a decade," Park Manager John Ferrara said. "Ice skating also is available on the lake. The park features five acres of cleared hillside for sledding and tobogganing, as well as about 7 miles of cross-country ski trails when conditions are right."

Outdoor recreation programs at the park this winter include snowshoeing, ice harvesting and ice fishing for kids.

Contracted Innkeeper Charlie Brooks and park staff also are preparing a "Golden Eagle Voyage Birding Weekend" March 4-6, during the peak of the annual Golden Eagle northern migration in early spring.

"Visitors can enjoy the comforts of the Nature Inn with food from local sources; an outing to nearby Tussey Mountain to watch for eagles, hawks and raptors; an educational evening program on migration; and a morning sunrise woodcock trot," Brooks said.

Details for educational programs and weekend packages are available on the DCNR Calendar of Events at http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/Calendar/list.asp?offset=10&sortby=Time&ordering=ASC&Facility=1822&NumberOfEventsToShowInGrid=10.

Each of the inn's 16 rooms is named for a different bird and features coordinating prints by artists John James Audubon and Ned Smith.  

Every spring, songbirds including warblers, flycatchers and swallows, display courtship rituals and sing enchanting melodies while searching for nesting spots in the park. Boaters and beach-goers commonly see herons, gulls, geese and osprey around the lake. In the fall, visitors can find migrating mergansers, cormorants and buffleheads on the lake.

Rooms include a microwave, refrigerator, cable TV, DVD player and Internet access. Reservations for the inn can be made through the existing state park reservation system at www.visitPAParks.com.

Bald Eagle State Park is located in Centre County, not far from Interstate 80. The inn is approximately a 3-hour drive from Pittsburgh; slightly longer from Philadelphia.

For more information about the Nature Inn, visit www.natureinnatbaldeagle.com or call 814-625-2879.

Media contact: Christina Novak, 717-772-9101

SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources

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