Bays Ridge Road

Trail Name Bays Ridge Road Park Bays Mountain Park Nearest City Kingsport State Tennessee Trail Marking Signs Trail Use/Features Difficulty Rating Medium Hiking Time 45 Min0.75 Hours <br />0.0469 Days <br /> Distance: round-trip/trail only 2.88 Mi4.635 km <br /> / 1.44 Mi2.317 km <br /> Trail Type In-and-Out Climb/Descent Elevation 571 Ft174.041 Meters <br /> / -394 Ft-120.091 Meters <br /> High Point 2,327 Ft775.667 Yards <br />709.27 Meters <br /> Parking 36° 30' 31.76" N, 82° 36' 34.36" W Trailhead 36° 30' 27.53" N, 82° 36' 45.37" W Nearest Medical Kingsport, TN Trip Reports Click Here Loading map... {"type":"ROADMAP","minzoom":false,"maxzoom":false,"types":["ROADMAP","SATELLITE","HYBRID","TERRAIN"],"mappingservice":"googlemaps3","width":"270px","height":"180px","centre":false,"title":"","label":"","icon":"","lines":[],"polygons":[],"circles":[],"rectangles":[],"copycoords":false,"static":false,"visitedicon":"","wmsoverlay":false,"zoom":8,"layers":[],"controls":["zoom"],"zoomstyle":"DEFAULT","typestyle":"DEFAULT","autoinfowindows":false,"resizable":false,"kmlrezoom":false,"poi":true,"cluster":false,"clustergridsize":60,"clustermaxzoom":20,"clusterzoomonclick":true,"clusteraveragecenter":true,"clusterminsize":2,"imageoverlays":[],"kml":[],"gkml":[],"searchmarkers":"","fullscreen":false,"scrollwheelzoom":false,"locations":[{"text":"","title":"","link":"","lat":36.5088209999999975252649164758622646331787109375,"lon":-82.609544999999997116901795379817485809326171875,"icon":""}]} Show Large Map

Trail Overview

Located in Bays Mountain Park. Park road along the SW edge of the park. High views across the valley and to Appalachian Mountains.

How to get there

From the main parking lot, cross the dam and take the left onto Lake Road for a few stop and then left again on Bays Ridge Road. Follows the ridgeline until Bays Ridge Trail splits off, and then it heads down to Ledbetter Gap.

Route Description

1.4 mile from Lake Road by dam to up, down, and rejoining Lake Road at Ledbetter Gap.

This trail has connections to Lake Road, Orchid Trail, Bays Ridge Trail, and Front Hollow Road

Miles	Bays Ridge Road	Miles	Elevation (ft)
0.0	Trailhead at Lake Road near reservoir dam	1.4	1835
0.1	Junction with Pine Trail which heads downhill to the north	1.3
0.6	Junction with Orchid Trail which heads downhill to the north	0.8	2156
0.9	Junction with Bays Ridge Trail continues to SW along ridge line while Bays Ridge Road heads downhill	0.5	2285
1.6	Ledbetter Gap - Junction also with Lake Road and Front Hollow Road	0.0	1920

Typical Conditions

Mostly a gravel road, but severely washed out on steep slopes (needs water bars installed to get the runoff away from the road bed).
The road can be ridden by mountain bike along the ridge crest. The section down to Ledbetter Gap will require some dismounting and walking around the worst ruts.

Misc. Information

During the section closest to the dam, the road passes between two parallel ridges of sandstone.

Maps

On the following contour map, the dark brick red path is Bays Ridge Road. Orange is Lake Road. Red is Pine Trail. Purple is Orchid Trail. Yellow is Front Hollow Road.

Loading map...

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class=\"mw-parser-output\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERoad starts at \u003Ca href=\"/wiki/Lake_Road_(Bays_Mountain_Park)\" title=\"Lake Road (Bays Mountain Park)\"\u003ELake Road\u003C/a\u003E by reservoir dam\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003C/div\u003E\u003C/b\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-parser-output\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\"/wiki/File:BMP_LakeRd-BaysRidgeRd_sign.JPG\" class=\"image\"\u003E\u003Cimg alt=\"BMP LakeRd-BaysRidgeRd sign.JPG\" src=\"/clubwiki/images/thumb/BMP_LakeRd-BaysRidgeRd_sign.JPG/50px-BMP_LakeRd-BaysRidgeRd_sign.JPG\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"50\" height=\"179\" srcset=\"/clubwiki/images/thumb/BMP_LakeRd-BaysRidgeRd_sign.JPG/75px-BMP_LakeRd-BaysRidgeRd_sign.JPG 1.5x, /clubwiki/images/thumb/BMP_LakeRd-BaysRidgeRd_sign.JPG/100px-BMP_LakeRd-BaysRidgeRd_sign.JPG 2x\" data-file-width=\"125\" data-file-height=\"448\" /\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003C/div\u003E","title":"Road starts at Lake Road by reservoir dam\n","link":"","lat":36.50761299999999920373738859780132770538330078125,"lon":-82.6126579999999961501089273951947689056396484375,"icon":"/clubwiki/images/MarkerG.png"},{"text":"\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-parser-output\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003EJunction with \u003Ca href=\"/wiki/Pine_Trail\" title=\"Pine Trail\"\u003EPine Trail\u003C/a\u003E\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003C/div\u003E","title":"Junction with Pine Trail\n","link":"","lat":36.5063099999999991496224538423120975494384765625,"lon":-82.613110000000006039044819772243499755859375,"icon":"/clubwiki/images/MarkerG.png"},{"text":"\u003Cb\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-parser-output\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003EJunction with \u003Ca href=\"/wiki/Orchid_Trail\" title=\"Orchid Trail\"\u003EOrchid Trail\u003C/a\u003E\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003C/div\u003E\u003C/b\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-parser-output\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\"/wiki/File:BMP_Orchid_Trail_sign2.JPG\" class=\"image\"\u003E\u003Cimg alt=\"BMP Orchid Trail sign2.JPG\" src=\"/clubwiki/images/thumb/BMP_Orchid_Trail_sign2.JPG/50px-BMP_Orchid_Trail_sign2.JPG\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"50\" height=\"109\" srcset=\"/clubwiki/images/thumb/BMP_Orchid_Trail_sign2.JPG/75px-BMP_Orchid_Trail_sign2.JPG 1.5x, /clubwiki/images/thumb/BMP_Orchid_Trail_sign2.JPG/100px-BMP_Orchid_Trail_sign2.JPG 2x\" data-file-width=\"206\" data-file-height=\"448\" /\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003C/div\u003E","title":"Junction with Orchid Trail\n","link":"","lat":36.5004899999999992132870829664170742034912109375,"lon":-82.6178599999999931924321572296321392059326171875,"icon":"/clubwiki/images/MarkerG.png"},{"text":"\u003Cb\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-parser-output\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERoad starts at Ledbetter Gap\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003C/div\u003E\u003C/b\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-parser-output\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\"/wiki/File:BMP_Ledbetter_Gap_sign.JPG\" class=\"image\"\u003E\u003Cimg alt=\"BMP Ledbetter Gap sign.JPG\" src=\"/clubwiki/images/thumb/BMP_Ledbetter_Gap_sign.JPG/150px-BMP_Ledbetter_Gap_sign.JPG\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"148\" srcset=\"/clubwiki/images/thumb/BMP_Ledbetter_Gap_sign.JPG/225px-BMP_Ledbetter_Gap_sign.JPG 1.5x, /clubwiki/images/thumb/BMP_Ledbetter_Gap_sign.JPG/300px-BMP_Ledbetter_Gap_sign.JPG 2x\" data-file-width=\"340\" data-file-height=\"336\" /\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cbr /\u003ECrossroads with \u003Ca href=\"/wiki/Lake_Road_(Bays_Mountain_Park)\" title=\"Lake Road (Bays Mountain Park)\"\u003ELake Road\u003C/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\"/wiki/Front_Hollow_Road\" title=\"Front Hollow Road\"\u003EFront Hollow Road\u003C/a\u003E\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003C/div\u003E","title":"Road starts at Ledbetter Gap\n","link":"","lat":36.4979000000000013415046851150691509246826171875,"lon":-82.627712999999999965439201332628726959228515625,"icon":"/clubwiki/images/MarkerG.png"}]}

The following elevation profile travels from near reservoir dam up and down to Ledbetter Gap.