Talk:Bays Mountain Park

Feature of the Month

Bays Mountain Park is a 3,550 acre14.366 km² <br /> city park with 0 trails covering a total of 0.0 miles for hiking and most for mountain biking. There is a $4 entrance fee, but yearly memberships for individuals ($25) and family ($35) are available and provide other park perks with it.

Onsite features include a nature center, planetarium, zipline and adventure course, and animal habitats. No lodging or camping is allowed in the park, but it appears that park organized camping events do occur on occasion. The lake doesn't allow swimming and is open to paddlers only once a month. Many love to come and see the work of the beavers chewing down trees, dams, and homes.

There are many historical structures within the park. Many families lived within the park boundaries when the dam was initially created back in the early 1900's and many of their homes, barns, and out buildings remain to this day. I always find it interesting to see these homes and imagine how it must have been to survive without our modern day conveniences.

The network of trails work wonderfully allowing you to create nearly any hike that you're interested in doing. Short, long, lakeside, hill climbing, overlooks, history exploration, are all available. Most are fairly wide and work well for group outings allowing side by side walking and conversations. Just one note of caution, the trails in the south-western portion of the park are not as well marked, and in some places not well defined. Be sure to bring with you a map and a good sense of direction if you venture into this area.

If it has been a while, or if you've never visited here, come see one of Kinsport's finest gems