 Access to the reservoir and the reservoir's dam were both constructed by the CCC in the mid to late 1930s, specifically with the dam being completed in 1937.Nittany Mountain is part of a synclinal depression of the anticlinal Nittany Arch, which originally formed a huge mountain, that has since eroded, during the Appalachian orogeny.Topped by erosion resistant sandstone the mountain forms a barrier between Penns Valley, and Brush Valley, to the south and Nittany Valley to the north.