Cliffside Trail
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Trail Overview
Located in Bays Mountain Park. Up and along the ridgeline to a lookout tower.
How to get there
From the main parking lot, head over to the observatory. The unmarked trail heads uphill from here. Alternatively, head up Bays Mountain Road to observation tower and take the trail back down.
Route Description
Short steep hike along the ridgeline with couple of lookout points and up to the observation tower.
Miles | Cliffside Trail | Miles |
---|---|---|
0.0 | Trailhead at Astronomical Observatory (by "Sun" on solar model"). Also first overlook nearby. | 0.5 |
0.1 | Overlook near gate on Bays Mountain Road | 0.4 |
0.2 | Trail split. Up stairs is older route. Ahead is newer sidetrail alternative shown on park map. | 0.3 |
0.4 | Trail split on ridgeline. Down is newer sidetrail alternative shown on park map, while follow ridge to older route. | 0.1 |
0.5 | Observation Tower/Junction with Bays Mountain Road | 0.0 |
Typical Conditions
The older trail route is very worn and washed out on steep ascent with stone steps built long ago. Pine needle covered path once up on ridgeline. Alternate route is newer sidehill trail in excellent condition.
Regulations
NO BIKES!
Misc. Information
Selective removal of some trees around the lookout tower would greatly improve viewing year around.
Maps
<googlemap version="0.9" lat="36.50349" lon="-82.61893" type="terrain" zoom="15" width="700" scale="yes" icons="http://tehcc.org/clubwiki/kml/marker{label}.png"> http://tehcc.org/clubwiki/kml/BMP_Cliffside_Trail.kml http://tehcc.org/clubwiki/kml/BMP_bays_mountain_road.kml
(G) 36.50349,-82.61893
Trailhead near observatory
(G) 36.50049,-82.61786
Lookout tower
</googlemap>