Pretty Ridge Trail: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 17:10, 18 November 2015




Trail Name	Pretty Ridge Trail
Park	Bays Mountain Park
Nearest City	Kingsport
State	Tennessee
Trail Marking	Signs
Trail Use/Features
Difficulty Rating	Hard
Hiking Time	1.5 Hours0.0938 Days <br />90 Min <br />
Distance: round-trip/trail only	7.0 Mi11.265 km <br /> / 1.75 Mi2.816 km <br />
Trail Type	Segment
Climb/Descent Elevation	668 Ft203.606 Meters <br /> / -769 Ft-234.391 Meters <br />
High Point	2,154 Ft718 Yards <br />656.539 Meters <br />
Parking	36° 30' 31.76" N, 82° 36' 34.36" W
Trailhead	36° 29' 51.50" N, 82° 38' 35.88" W
Nearest Medical	Kingsport, TN
Trip Reports	Click Here

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Trail Overview

Located in Bays Mountain Park. Pretty Ridge, up on the ridge, is a nice extension of Indian Pipes Trail, but difficult hiking between Back Hollow Road.

How to get there

Take either Indian Pipes Trail from near Fire Tower or Back Hollow Road.

Route Description

On paper, a U-shaped path up from Back Hollow Road, along the ridgeline, and back down with connections to Back Hollow Road, Cross Ridges Trail, Indian Pipes Trail, Kiner Hollow Trail, Front Hollow Road, and Bays Ridge Trail. The trail is marked with white plastic blazes.

Miles	Pretty Ridge Trail	Elevation (ft)
0.00	Back Hollow Road at abandoned cabin	1672
0.45	Intersection with Indian Pipes Trail and Kiner Hollow Trail	1980
1.35	Split back down just before meeting Kiner Hollow Trail again	2000
1.65	Sty over fence	1665
1.7	Back Hollow Road at open meadows	1615

Mountain biking is not allowed in the eastern drop down to Back Hollow Road. The western slope is inaccessible.

Typical Conditions

Nice hard dirt path up on the ridge. Eastern section was redug after a major winter storm in the 90s.

The western section from Back Hollow Road to the top of the ridgeline is cleaned up as of 2015. The trail is faint especially the middle part of the climb but you should be able to follow it. If you lose the trail just bushwhack uphill and you will reconnect to it back at the top anyway. It's a short climb and not hard either way. Blazes are sporadic still so keep an eye on your path. Not great but better than what is used to be.

Misc. Information

Maps

Brown is Pretty Ridge Trail. Yellow is Kiner Hollow Trail. Red is Indian Pipes Trail. Green is Back Hollow Road.

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Photos

Sty across fence - key location

@@ Line 66: / Line 66: @@
 == Typical Conditions ==
 <!-- Typical conditions throughout the year of what to expect on the trail. Rocky, muddy, sandy, flowers, lots of downed trees?  -->
-Nice hard dirt path up on the ridge.  Eastern section was redug after a major winter storm in the 90s.  The western section has been abandoned by the park after 2009 winter storms with many, many blowdowns and missing blazes, thus no maintenance being done.
+Nice hard dirt path up on the ridge.  Eastern section was redug after a major winter storm in the 90s.
+The western section from Back Hollow Road to the top of the ridgeline is cleaned up as of 2015.  The trail is faint especially the middle part of the climb but you should be able to follow it. If you lose the trail just bushwhack uphill and you will reconnect to it back at the top anyway.  It's a short climb and not hard either way.  Blazes are sporadic still so keep an eye on your path.  Not great but better than what is used to be.
 == Misc. Information ==