Fruit Trees for State College, Bellefonte, Altoona, Hollidaysburg and Tyrone, Pennsylvania

Penn State's state climatologist keeps a page on a place called the Barrens, about 4 miles west of the main campus in a narrow valley between two ridges, where nights can run up to 30°F colder than in State College. In the 1977 to 1978 study year it froze there on 206 days and in town on 135. The same thing plays out on a smaller scale in every valley here, and it's the first thing to know about fruit trees for State College, Bellefonte, Altoona, Hollidaysburg and Tyrone.

The map covers Happy Valley and southern Centre County, Blair County from Altoona and Hollidaysburg to Tyrone and Williamsburg, northwest Huntingdon County down the Juniata past Huntingdon, and the Allegheny Plateau around Philipsburg and Houtzdale. Type your address in the box on the map to get the number for your own place, and the list of what we sell that has come through it.

How to read this map

The big number is the 30-year planning low, the hard winter night we'd plan a tree around. It leans cold on purpose: a safe planning number, not a forecast of how often that night comes. The MFTC zone is that number in half zones. Typical winter is an ordinary year's coldest night, the kind of average USDA's zones are built on, which is why theirs read warmer than ours. The spring layer shows how much warmer or colder a spot runs than downtown State College on a still, clear night at bloom.

The middle of the growing ground plans for −14°F; the coldest 5 percent, most of it on the plateau, plans for −22°F or colder, and the warmest 5 percent for −9°F or warmer. Downtown State College, the reference, plans for −11°F (MFTC 5b), typical winter 0°F. The warmest named place we checked is Granville, on the Juniata at the map's east edge, at −8°F (6a); the coldest is Madera, on the plateau, at −25°F (4a). The spring layer spreads even wider, from 12°F colder than downtown at Frankstown to 10°F warmer at Oak Leaf, a hill subdivision near Stormstown.

Why the map looks the way it does

The map straddles the Allegheny Front, the steep escarpment between the Ridge and Valley country's limestone valleys and the higher, colder Allegheny Plateau; near Black Moshannon it climbs about 1,300 ft in 4 miles. The old Philipsburg Mid State Airport station, at 1,942 ft, ran a median 11°F colder on the year's coldest night than State College over 45 years, and the old station 2 miles southeast of Madera 10°F colder over 37. The plateau towns plan for −18°F to −25°F, most valley towns −11°F to −17°F.

In the valleys the ridges stand roughly 600 to 1,000 ft above the floors. On a clear, calm night each floor fills with cold, most of it made right there as the ground loses heat to the sky, plus what slides off the ridges. The cold moves the way the water does, and the water leaves through a few narrow gaps: Spring Creek through Bald Eagle Mountain at Milesburg, the Little Juniata between Brush and Bald Eagle mountains at Tyrone, the Frankstown Branch through Tussey Mountain at Water Street. Cold backs up above a narrows, and the map fits that: Tyrone, on the floor at the Little J's gap, plans for −20°F, and Milesburg, at Spring Creek's, −16°F. Penn State's climatologist ties State College's late spring and early fall freezes to cold air draining into the valley.

Downtown State College sits on a hillside about 80 ft above the floor near the high south end of the valley, where cold slides past instead of settling, and it's built up (the map gives built-up ground a small credit for the heat it holds). The State College station, with 135 years on file, has a 30-year number of −10°F, close to the map's −11°F downtown.

The documented cold hole is the Barrens. William S. Clarke's 1941 to 1952 study there recorded frost in every month, with a January low of −40°F and a July low of 22°F, and in 1977 to 1978 it fell to 0°F or below on 31 days to State College's 1. None of the NOAA stations behind the map sits there, so the map doesn't show a hole that deep.

The Juniata bottoms are the other big cold sink. Huntingdon, on the river at 629 ft, plans for −21°F (MFTC 4b), and its station ran a median 4°F colder than State College over 68 years. In some cold snaps the gap grows. In the January 17, 2009 cold snap Huntingdon read −17°F, State College −3°F and the Raystown Lake station, at 1,000 ft (about 200 ft above the lake's normal pool), 1°F. In the December 24, 1960 snap Huntingdon read −22°F to State College's −4°F. That fits the thermal belt: the river floor pools, and ground a few hundred feet up stays above it.

The spring layer is the same drainage at full strength. The coldest bloom readings of any named places we checked are on floors and in draws: Frankstown 12°F colder than downtown, Fillmore, on the floor north of Toftrees, 11°F colder. The warmest are hillsides 130 to 290 ft above their floors: Oak Leaf near Stormstown 10°F warmer, Beverly Hills on Altoona's west side 9°F, Taylor Highlands above Huntingdon 8°F, Park View Heights in Bellefonte 7°F.

State College, University Park and Boalsburg

Downtown State College plans for −11°F (MFTC 5b), typical winter 0°F, with the benches within 3 miles at −11°F and the floor at −14°F. University Park, Penn State's main campus, is on the town's north side. The warmest named place we checked in Happy Valley is Park Forest Village, on a bench 170 ft above the floor west of town: −10°F (MFTC 6a), 3°F warmer than downtown at bloom. Toftrees, on a hillside 110 ft up, plans for −12°F and reads 2°F warmer.

The low ground is close by. Greentree reads 3°F colder than downtown at bloom, and Struble and Pine Hall, on the floor southwest of town, 6°F to 7°F colder. Winter hardly changes across those few miles, so on a hillside lot or the western benches, plant the early bloomers: Tomcot apricot (−30°F), Stella sweet cherry (−25°F), Redstar peach (−25°F), Shiro plum (−30°F). Chicago Hardy Fig (−10°F) just fits at Park Forest Village and is worth a try downtown against a south wall.

Boalsburg, on the toe slope below Tussey Mountain near Galbraith Gap, plans for −14°F and reads 5°F colder than downtown at bloom, which fits cold air coming off Tussey. Lemont, in a draw, plans for −14°F and reads 7°F colder. Mount Nittany Vineyard, on the side of Mount Nittany near Centre Hall, was sited for southern exposure, elevation and drainage, and grows Itasca grape (−35°F) among others.

Pine Grove Mills, Grays Woods and Halfmoon Valley

Pine Grove Mills, at the base of Tussey Mountain, sits in a draw 100 ft above the floor: −12°F, 3°F colder than downtown at bloom, while Cedar Hills, on the hillside above, reads 5°F warmer. West in Ferguson Township, around Penn State's Rock Springs research farm, the floors plan for −14°F to −15°F and get frostier at bloom: Marengo 8°F colder than downtown, Ramblewood and Hostler 10°F. Scotia, the ghost town about 4 miles west of campus, reads −13°F, but if you're on the sandy, open Barrens ground Penn State describes west of campus, plan a good deal colder than the map.

Around Grays Woods, west of town, a hillside 110 ft up reads 5°F warmer than downtown at bloom while Blueberry Crossing, on the floor less than a mile away, reads 7°F colder. Farther west, Halfmoon Valley is old orchard country: the Quaker Way family came in 1792 and farmed at Stormstown, and Way Fruit Farm still sells u-pick apples plus peaches, cherries, pears, plums and apricots. Stormstown, on a hillside 200 ft up, plans for −15°F (MFTC 5a) and reads 2°F warmer at bloom. Oak Leaf, a hill subdivision 240 ft up nearby, plans for −12°F and reads 10°F warmer, the best spring reading of any named place we checked; Houtz Subdivision, in a draw, reads 6°F colder. On those hills there's room for Harlayne apricot (−30°F), Contender peach (−30°F), Lapins cherry (−35°F) and Seckel pear (−35°F). In the draws, plant apples like Zestar!® (−40°F) and Liberty (−35°F).

Bellefonte, Spring Creek and Bald Eagle Valley

Bellefonte sits on Spring Creek about 12 miles northeast of State College. The map's point in town, at 874 ft on a toe slope 90 ft above the floor, plans for −14°F (MFTC 5b), typical winter −2°F, and reads 4°F warmer than downtown State College at bloom; the floor within 3 miles plans for −16°F and the benches −13°F. It's about 270 ft lower than State College and still reads warmer, because what counts is height above your own floor. Park View Heights, in the North Ward, plans for −14°F and reads 7°F warmer at bloom, and Brockerhoff Heights II, 180 ft up, −13°F and 6°F warmer. Along the creek, Bush Addition and Confer's Development plan for −15°F and read 3°F to 4°F colder.

The low ground collects the cold. Axemann, in the draw toward Pleasant Gap, reads 8°F colder than downtown State College at bloom. Milesburg, on the river bottom at Spring Creek's gap, plans for −16°F (MFTC 5a) and reads 7°F colder. Across Bald Eagle Mountain, Bald Eagle Valley runs southwest to Tyrone. Julian, on the creek bottom, plans for −16°F and reads 6°F colder at bloom, and Port Matilda −17°F. On the Bellefonte benches there's room for Blushingstar peach (−30°F; it came through −25°F at our place on January 13, 2024 without damage) and for Superior plum (−35°F) with Toka (−45°F), since Toka is a good pollenizer for Superior. At Milesburg, Julian and Port Matilda, lean on Honeycrisp (−45°F) and Honeyberry (−50°F).

Altoona, Logan Valley and Tyrone

Altoona sits at the base of Brush Mountain in Logan Valley and Pleasant Valley, where the Little Juniata forms. Downtown plans for −16°F (MFTC 5a), typical winter −4°F, and reads 2°F colder than downtown State College at bloom; the floor within 3 miles plans for −16°F and the benches −14°F. The west side climbs, and that's the good ground: Beverly Hills, 290 ft above the floor, plans for −14°F and reads 9°F warmer at bloom, and Calvert Hills −14°F and 6°F warmer. Llyswen and Wehnwood, on the floor, plan for −16°F and read 4°F to 5°F colder. Up on the Front, Wopsononock, at 2,484 ft, plans for −17°F, 1°F colder than downtown 1,300 ft lower; ridges track the free air while hollows pool. On the west side hills try Black Gold sweet cherry (−35°F), Italian plum (−35°F) and Bartlett pear (−35°F); on the floor, Golden Russet apple (−40°F) and Red Lake currant (−40°F).

Below Altoona the Little J runs northeast through Logan Valley, and the cold builds the whole way. Pinecroft, on the floor, plans for −19°F and reads 8°F colder at bloom, and Bellwood −18°F. Tyrone sits on the floor at 893 ft, where the southern Bald Eagle Creek comes in and the river turns southeast through the gap between Brush and Bald Eagle mountains. It plans for −20°F (MFTC 5a), typical winter −6°F, and reads 5°F colder at bloom; its benches plan for −17°F. There's no NOAA station at Tyrone, so its number leans on the stations around it, and the drainage fits: Tyrone gathers cold from two valleys right above a narrows. On the Tyrone floor, plant trees rated −25°F or colder: Haralson (−45°F) and Wolf River (−50°F) apples, Kerr applecrab (−50°F), Evans Bali tart cherry (−45°F) and Montana Black Currant (−50°F), which we've never seen winter damage on.

Hollidaysburg, Frankstown and Morrisons Cove

Hollidaysburg, the old canal port about 5 miles south of Altoona, has the Frankstown Branch just east of town. Downtown plans for −16°F (MFTC 5a), typical winter −3°F, and reads even with downtown State College at bloom. The floor within 3 miles plans for −17°F and the benches −13°F. Sylvan Hills, 170 ft up, plans for −14°F and reads 6°F warmer at bloom; Gaysport, on the floor, −17°F and 8°F colder. Frankstown, where the Frankstown Branch turns east, plans for −17°F and has the coldest bloom reading of any named place we checked, 12°F colder than downtown State College. Put Westcot (−45°F) and Sungold (−40°F) apricots on the Sylvan Hills slopes, and keep the Frankstown and Gaysport flats for Cortland (−40°F) and Northern Spy (−30°F) apples and Aronia Berry (−50°F).

Williamsburg sits at the north opening of Morrisons Cove, the broad valley between Tussey Mountain and the Dunning, Loop and Lock mountain chain. It plans for −16°F and reads 6°F colder than downtown State College at bloom. In the north end of the Cove, Royer plans for −14°F but reads 8°F colder in its draw. A broad, level floor pools on a still spring night, so pick the knolls and toe slopes for stone fruit.

Huntingdon and the Juniata bottoms

The Frankstown Branch and the Little J meet near Petersburg, about 6 miles northwest of Huntingdon. Alexandria and Barree, on the floor, plan for −19°F and read 7°F colder than downtown State College at bloom. Spruce Creek, where the Little J comes through Tussey Mountain, and Warriors Mark plan for −16°F to −17°F, with their floors at −19°F.

Huntingdon plans for −21°F (MFTC 4b), typical winter −5°F, and reads 4°F colder at bloom; the floor within 3 miles plans for −22°F. The slopes are the escape: the benches within 3 miles plan for −16°F and the warmest tenth of the ground −12°F. Taylor Highlands, on the hillside 200 ft above town, plans for −20°F and reads 8°F warmer at bloom. The Huntingdon station holds the coldest reading of any station inside the map, −29°F on January 14, 1912, and the map's −21°F there is colder than anything it read in the 11 winters it has on file since 1995 (−17°F). On the Taylor Highlands slope, Siberian C peach (−35°F) and Contender fit; on the bottoms stick with Honeycrisp, Haralson and Liberty.

Downriver it warms. Mill Creek and Mapleton plan for −14°F to −16°F, Newton Hamilton −12°F, McVeytown −11°F and Granville −8°F (MFTC 6a). That end of the map is closest to the Lewistown station, which runs much milder: in the January 17, 2009 snap Lewistown read −4°F to Huntingdon's −17°F. We haven't found a published explanation for why Huntingdon's station runs so much colder on the same river. All these river towns read 3°F to 6°F colder than downtown State College at bloom, so put early bloomers up the slope.

Philipsburg, Houtzdale and the plateau

Philipsburg, at about 1,450 ft, plans for −20°F (MFTC 5a), typical winter −9°F, and reads 3°F colder than downtown State College at bloom; its benches plan for −17°F. West it gets colder: Houtzdale −24°F (MFTC 4b), Madera −25°F (4a). The Philipsburg station 2 miles south of town, at 1,720 ft, ran a median 7°F colder than State College over 27 years. Black Moshannon State Park, about 9 miles east of Philipsburg at about 1,900 ft, sits in a basin that traps denser cool air and has seen −25°F (1994). The good ground is the benches: Kylertown and Morrisdale, 160 to 170 ft up, plan for −18°F and read 4°F to 5°F warmer at bloom, while Antes, on low ground east of Philipsburg, reads 10°F colder. Plant from the cold end of our list (see the bands below). The Philipsburg station's median last 32°F frost is May 16, with 145 frost-free days, and in zone 4 ground like Houtzdale and Madera taper water from mid-August so trees harden off.

Spring frost and bloom in Happy Valley and the Juniata country

NOAA's 1991 to 2020 medians at the State College station put the last 32°F frost on April 25 and the last 28°F on April 8, with 184 frost-free days; one year in ten the last 32°F comes May 14 or later. The Altoona station 3 miles west of the city has April 30 (169 days) and the one 7 miles southwest, at 1,180 ft, May 1, while the Altoona-Blair County Airport station, higher at 1,465 ft just past the map's edge, has April 24; a lower station frosting a week later fits the cold-pool pattern. The Philipsburg station, about 270 ft above the map's point in town, has May 16, and the Raystown Lake station April 17 (188 days). NOAA's frost table has no Huntingdon, Tyrone or Bellefonte station.

On April 7, 2025, Penn State's Rock Springs orchard held about 19°F for several hours and about 17°F for an hour, about 5°F below the forecast, and the same apple variety kept 86 percent of its buds in Block A1 against 12 percent in Block C, a known cold pocket. In April 2026 warm days of 80°F to 90°F pushed trees into bloom before a drop to 23°F. The April 8 snap took Centre County's peaches, and USDA put Pennsylvania's losses at over 80 percent of the peaches and nearly 60 percent of the apples.

Open blossoms of nearly every tree fruit start dying near 28°F (Michigan State's numbers), but only about 15 percent of apple blossoms need to set for a crop, fully open haskap flowers take 19°F, and most fruit can lose half its bloom and still crop; cherries and grapes, which fruit in clusters, forgive less. So put apricots, peaches, plums, sweet cherries and pears on slopes that read warm at bloom, and apples, haskap and bush fruit on the lower ground. Penn State notes north exposures are less exposed to late spring frost; Bob Purvis likes an east slope, which warms quickly on a frosty morning. A hedge or road fill across a slope dams cold air uphill of it, and no slope helps in a windy freeze.

What the weather records say

Some of the coldest readings in NOAA station records here are −29°F at Huntingdon (January 14, 1912) and at Clarence, just past the map's edge (January 18, 2009); −27°F at the old Philipsburg Mid State Airport station (January 19, 1948); −25°F at the Altoona-Blair County Airport station (January 19, 1994); −24°F at the old Madera station (February 27, 1963); and −20°F at State College (February 10, 1899). In January 1994 the valley stations read close together (State College −18°F, Lewistown −17°F, Raystown Lake −15°F); deep arctic air fills whole valleys and leaves a bench little edge.

The planning numbers are built from winters since 1995-96, and those have been milder. State College's coldest since then is −9°F (January 7, 2014), against the map's −11°F at the station; the Altoona station 3 miles west has read −12°F against −15°F, and the Philipsburg station −14°F (January 2025) against −16°F. So the planning lows sit colder than anything these stations have seen since 1995, yet another January 1994 would go about 7°F past the State College number.

Third-party zone pages put State College in USDA zone 6b (one lists Centre County under both 6a and 6b), and a nursery page puts Altoona in 6b. USDA's zones are built on the average winter's coldest night, and our typical winters, 0°F downtown and −4°F in Altoona, fit 6b. Our zones are built on the bad night: 6a at Park Forest Village and Granville, 5b for State College, Bellefonte and Boalsburg, 5a for Altoona, Hollidaysburg, Tyrone and Philipsburg, 4b for Huntingdon and Houtzdale, 4a at Madera.

What you can grow here

Every plant we sell is rated by the coldest temperature it has actually come through. Most of the list clears winter in the Nittany Valley and along the lower Juniata, so choose there by site and bloom timing.

Happy Valley's hills and benches, −10°F to −13°F (downtown State College, Park Forest Village, Toftrees, Cedar Hills, the Grays Woods hills and Oak Leaf, Bellefonte's benches). Everything rated −15°F or colder fits, and Chicago Hardy Fig is worth a try on a south wall. These read even with or warmer than downtown at bloom, so the early bloomers go here: Bing cherry and Santa Rosa plum (both −20°F), Redstar and Glohaven (−25°F) peaches, Tomcot and Goldrich (−30°F) apricots, Rainier cherry (−30°F), Stanley plum (−30°F) and D'Anjou pear (−30°F).

The valley floors and most towns, −14°F to −17°F (Boalsburg, Lemont, Milesburg, Port Matilda, Altoona, Hollidaysburg, Frankstown, Williamsburg), plus the lower Juniata river towns, which plan warmer but frost at bloom. Everything rated −20°F or colder fits by winter, but most of these read 2°F to 12°F colder than downtown at bloom. Put Honeycrisp, Zestar!, Cortland, Liberty and Golden Russet apples, Honeyberry, Red Lake currant and Aronia Berry on the low ground. Save any rise for Montmorency tart cherry (−35°F), Seckel (−35°F) and Harrow Sweet (−30°F) pears, Superior and Toka plums (our pollination maps show what pairs with what), Lapins cherry, Contender and Blushingstar peaches, and Marquette (−35°F) and Itasca grapes.

Tyrone, the Juniata bottoms and the plateau towns, −18°F to −21°F (Tyrone, Bellwood, Alexandria, Barree, Huntingdon, Philipsburg, Osceola Mills, Kylertown). Plant trees rated −25°F or colder; ones rated −20°F are only worth a try on the warmer rises. Haralson, Wolf River and Honeycrisp apples, Kerr and Trailman (−55°F) applecrabs, Summercrisp (−45°F) pear, Toka and Brookred (−50°F) plums, Evans Bali and Meteor (−40°F) tart cherries, Westcot apricot and Contender peach on benches, and Montana Black Currant and Honeyberry anywhere.

The plateau's cold hollows, −22°F to −25°F (Ramey, Brisbin, Houtzdale, Madera). Trees rated −30°F or colder give you room: the picks above, plus Rescue applecrab (−60°F), Norland apple (−50°F) and Nanking Cherry (−50°F).

Roots are the weak link in a hard winter, and snow is their best cover; at Ed Schultz's farm in Gallatin Gateway, Montana, Bud 118 apple rootstock has seen near −50°F under snow with no damage. Mulch and keep the soil moist into winter. The limestone floors carry deep, well drained soils like the Hagerstown series, but this is karst country (State College's Memorial Field was a sinkhole), and Penn State says water standing more than 24 hours after a spring rain means a spot is too wet for fruit. Montana State University's rule, an uphill site on a 4 to 8 percent grade where cold air won't settle, fits these valley sides. Our cold hardiness calculator sorts everything we sell by the coldest temperature it has come through, and for western Pennsylvania there's our Pittsburgh and Three Rivers map.

Fruit history here

In the central limestone valleys, the Nittany, Penns and Brush valleys among them, nearly every farm once had an apple orchard. Centre County farm orchards averaged about 30°F trees, and one mid-1800s Centre County family went through about 200 bushels a year for cider, apple butter, fresh eating and drying. William P. Fisher, an apple grower from the Quaker community at Unionville, gave his daughter and son-in-law 1,000 apple trees as a wedding gift, and Way Fruit Farm in Halfmoon Valley has about 150 years of orchard behind it. Today Harner Farm grows McIntosh and Cortland, and Our Little Orchard in Bellefonte grows Zestar among others.

Questions people ask

What growing zone is State College, PA?

Downtown State College plans for −11°F, MFTC zone 5b, typical winter 0°F. Third-party zone pages put it in USDA zone 6b, built on the average winter's coldest night; ours is built on the bad night. Park Forest Village plans for −10°F (6a), and the floor toward Lemont and Boalsburg −14°F (5b).

When is the last frost in State College?

NOAA's 1991 to 2020 median last 32°F frost at the State College station is April 25, the last 28°F April 8, and one year in ten the last 32°F comes May 14 or later, with 184 frost-free days. The floors and draws around town run colder: Lemont reads 7°F colder than downtown at bloom, Ramblewood 10°F.

What zone is Altoona, PA?

Downtown Altoona plans for −16°F, MFTC zone 5a, typical winter −4°F. A nursery's zone page puts it in USDA 6b, which is built on the average winter rather than the bad one. The west side hills, Calvert Hills and Beverly Hills, plan for −14°F (5b).

Can you grow peaches in central Pennsylvania?

Yes, on the right spot. Redstar and Glohaven (−25°F) clear every valley town on the map, and Contender and Blushingstar (−30°F) every named place we checked. Bloom is the hard part: the April 8, 2026 freeze took Centre County's peaches. Plant them on hillsides that read warmer than downtown State College at bloom, not on the floor.

Why is the Barrens so cold?

Penn State's climatologist points to cold air draining off big mountain slopes into a narrow valley on clear, calm nights, sandy soil that loses heat fast and stays dry on top, lingering snow, and ground cleared in the 1800s by iron ore mining, fires and charcoal making. Nights there can run up to 30°F colder than in State College, and our map doesn't show a hole that deep, so plan colder out there.

Where do frost pockets form in Happy Valley?

On the valley floors and in the draws. On a still spring night the map reads Fillmore 11°F colder than downtown State College, Ramblewood and Hostler 10°F colder, and Pine Hall and Lemont 7°F colder, with the Barrens colder still. Penn State's Rock Springs orchard has a known cold pocket, Block C.

Warmer spots, colder spots

Here's the number to plan for at named places on the map, warmest first. Each one is the 1-in-30-year low for that spot: the cold hardiness calculator's number from the same weather stations, sharpened by our microclimate model for the ground right there. Zone is our MFTC zone, set by that one bad night, not by an average.

The weather stations behind it

These are the long-record stations in and around this map, with each one's own numbers since the winter of 1995-96. The last column is this map's 30-year number right at the station, which won't match the station exactly: it's a blend of the stations around it, the way the calculator works everywhere.

Source: NOAA records through ACIS, winters 1995-96 through 2025-26. What the "carried forward," "gaps filled" and AWOS rows mean is explained in how our microclimate maps work.