Bays Mountain Park is a nature park and planetarium located on

Bays Mountain Bays Mountain is a ridge of the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians, located in eastern Tennessee. It runs southwest to northeast, from just south of Knoxville to Kingsport. Its southern segment is relatively low in elevation (up to about ). In som ...

in Kingsport, Tennessee. Founded in 1971, it features a 44 acre lake and 40 miles of hiking trails, a nature center with a planetarium theater, fire tower, and animal habitats. Its nature center and outdoor native animal displays include a bobcat,

raptor Raptor or RAPTOR may refer to: Animals The word "raptor" refers to several groups of bird-like dinosaurs which primarily capture and subdue/kill prey with their talons. * Raptor (bird) or bird of prey, a bird that primarily hunts and feeds on ...

center,

wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly un ...

pen and captive and free-roaming

white-tail deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...

. Wolf howling sessions are held regularly where visitors can experience the sounds of the gray wolf. There is also a

herpetarium A herpetarium is a zoological exhibition space for reptiles and amphibians, most commonly a dedicated area of a larger zoo. A herpetarium which specializes in snakes is an ophidiarium or serpentarium, which are more common as stand-alone entiti ...

with reptiles and amphibians. The park also features an educational pontoon boat ride attraction that runs through the Bays Mountain Reservoir, called the Barge Ride. Other activities include hiking, orienteering, mountain biking, camping, and fishing. There is also an adventure course with a

zip line A zip-line, zip line, zip-wire, flying fox, or death slide is a pulley suspended on a cable, usually made of stainless steel, mounted on a slope. It is designed to enable cargo or a person propelled by gravity to travel from the top to the bot ...

and the Steadman Heritage Farmstead Museum, a 19th-century period living history farm museum. In 2017, the Pavilion at Lily Pad Cove was added for events rentals and special events and in 2019, 75 extra parking spots were added to alleviate peak season parking issues.

Wolves of Bays Mountain

Since 1992, Bays Mountain has been home to a pack of gray wolves. The current pack consists of eight wolves, four male and four female. Seven of those came to the park in 2014 and 2015 and the eighth has been there since 2007, making her the oldest wolf in park history. This is one of the few places a visitor can experience an actual wolf pack dynamic and behavior. Most places only have two or three wolves together.

References

External links

Bays Mountain Park website
Parks in Tennessee Protected areas of Sullivan County, Tennessee Protected areas of Hawkins County, Tennessee Museums in Sullivan County, Tennessee Living museums in Tennessee Nature centers in Tennessee Farm museums in the United States Planetaria in the United States Education in Sullivan County, Tennessee Adventure parks Protected areas established in 1965 1965 establishments in Tennessee {{Tennessee-geo-stub