Bays Mountain

Located in Kingsport, Tennessee, Bays Mountain is a city owned park and planetarium that has something for everyone. Though there are several activities, ranging from barge rides, planetarium shows, astronomy observing, and animal habitats, this post will focus on the beautiful hiking opportunities.

Plenty of Hiking Options

One of the advantages of Bays Mountain is that the trails (or at least all the trails I’ve hiked there) range from easy to moderately challenging. Hikers can choose to hike trails as short as a mile and can combine trails to hike nearly 10 miles. With over 40 miles of hiking trails, you could easily visit Bays Mountain several times a year and always have a new hiking trail option. I can attest to this as I have been to Bays Mountain several times throughout the years and have not only hiked the same trail twice, but I haven’t even scratch the surface of all the different trail options.

Bays Mountain Fire Tower

One of my favorite things to do while hiking at Bays Mountain has to be climbing their classic fire tower. Built in 1937 by the C.C.C., the fire tower is a site to be seen, not to mention the site you’ll see once you climb it. Once you climb the 60 foot tower, you’ll enter a graffitied covered room that provides a mountainous panoramic view that includes Kingsport and the South Fork Holston River.

There are a variety of hiking options to take to get to the fire tower, which you can find on maps given at the park or by using gps/mapping mobile apps like AllTrails.

Gearing up for Bays Mountain

When it comes to gear, it really varies on the time of year. When I hiked Bays Mountain in the month of February, I wore my trusty Solomon XA Po trail shoes. I’ve also hiked the area in a pair of chaco sandals in the spring and summer. If you plan on hiking up to the tower, I would suggest opting to hike in shoes or boots and skip the sandals (or at least switch out of your sandals during the tower hike).

Since I tend to spend several hours at the park when I visit, I always take a backpack loaded with snacks, drinks and other goodies. There are some great places to stop at on your way up to Bays that you may want to stock up on before you get to the park. In fact, no one will judge you if you make a stop a Pal’s before AND after you spend time at the park.

To learn more about everything Bays Mountain has to offer, check out their website which includes a calendar of events.