Millbrook Marsh Nature Center is a 62-acre a farmstead and wetland in College Township established to educate visitors about the natural world.
Operated by the Centre Region Parks & Recreation Authority, the center features a restored bank barn, marsh boardwalk, walking trails, picnic pavilion, sun shelters, native gardens, and education center.
The 50-acre marsh is home to a variety of wildlife, including deer, racoons, and muskrats, as well as many species of song birds, raptors, and shore birds. Slab Cabin Run and Thompson Run flow through the marsh. Bathgate Spring which flown into Thompson Run, provides a large volume of water.
Most of the center’s property is part of the Houserville Archeological District, an area that includes lowland along Spring Creek and adjacent uplands. The district includes Native American sites.
Millbrook Marsh opened in 1997 as a result of a long-term lease between Penn State and the Parks & Recreation Authority. The fields around the barn and education center used to be operated as a farm by the university. A conservation easement between Penn State and the ClearWater Conservancy protects the wetland from development.
The education center was built in 2011 to provide year-round programming, event, and rental space at the center. The education center was expanded in 2024, more than doubling the size of the facility.
The expansion project also included a new welcome pavilion at the center with family restrooms, water fountain, benches, and visitor information. The pavilion is located off the center’s parking area.
A streambank restoration project on Slab Cabin Run in Millbrook Marsh’s property also took place in 2024. The work reconnects the stream with the floodplain in the marsh and provides structures to limit bank erosion.
Sources:
Millbrook Marsh Nature Center, https://www.crpr.org/millbrook-marsh-nature-center (Accessed September 17, 2024).
Rushton, Geoff. “Millbrook Marsh Moving Forward with Education Building Expansion.” statecollege.com, May 14, 2021.
First Published: September 29, 2024
Last Modified: October 22, 2024