Bays Mountain is a ridge of the

Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians The Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians, also called the Ridge and Valley Province or the Valley and Ridge Appalachians, are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian division and are also a belt within the Appalachian Mountains extending ...

, located in eastern

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. It runs southwest to northeast, from just south of

Knoxville Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state' ...

to Kingsport. Its southern segment is relatively low in elevation (up to about ). In some places it essentially merges with the surrounding plains, especially where it is bisected by the

French Broad River The French Broad River is a river in the U.S. states of North Carolina and Tennessee. It flows from near the town of Rosman in Transylvania County, North Carolina, into Tennessee, where its confluence with the Holston River at Knoxville form ...

and the

Nolichucky River The Nolichucky River is a river that flows through Western North Carolina and East Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. Traversing the Pisgah National Forest and the Cherokee National Forest in the Blue Ridge Mountains, the river's wate ...

. The northern segment of Bays Mountain reaches higher elevations, averaging above with peaks reaching up to . It is not a single ridge, but rather a series of closely related ridges, some of which have names of their own(Fodderstack, Lost, Stone, Browns). The highest peak is Chimneytop Mountain (), a spur ridge south of the main Bays Mountain ridge. Northernmost end of Bays Mountain ridge at Kingsport 2Feb11

Northernmost end of Bays Mountain ridge at Kingsport 2Feb11

Bays Mountain runs just south of the

Holston River The Holston River is a river that flows from Kingsport, Tennessee, to Knoxville, Tennessee. Along with its three major forks (North Fork, Middle Fork and South Fork), it comprises a major river system that drains much of northeastern Tennessee, ...

, which flows northeast to southwest. At Kingsport the Holston River curves east and south, splitting into three tributary forks that flow from

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

to the northeast. Bays Mountain ends abruptly at this curve of the Holston River. Kingsport is on the north side of the river, directly across from the end of Bays Mountain, where two ridges meet in a "V" with an impounded lake (the old reservoir) between the ridges. The name of Bays Mountain: Two Bays brothers settled in Southwest Virginia, Russell and Scott Counties about 1780. Bays Mountain received its name from this family as they were noted as great hunters. Bays Mountain Park is a nature park located on Bays Mountain in Kingsport, featuring cross-cut viewing sections of beaver dams, bee hives, cave systems, and more. The park includes a planetarium, live native animal displays, a nature center, 19th-century living farm museum and adventure course.

References

*Williams, "Fort Robinson on the Holston," East Tennessee Historical Society Publications, no.4 (1932) *Samuel C. Williams, Dawn of Tennessee Valley and Tennessee History (Johnson City, 1937) *Long, Howard. Kingsport: A Romance of Industry. Overmountain Press (October 1993) *Wolfe, Margaret Ripley. Kingsport Tennessee: A Planned American City. University Press of Kentucky (November 1987) *The Goodspeed Publishing Co., History of Tennessee 1887; pages 1252-1261; Greene County Biographical Sketches, Surnames M thru W; (D.W. Remine Biography)

External links

* {{Coord, 36, 21, 45, N, 82, 51, 30, W, type:mountain_region:US_dim:50km_source:GNIS, display=title Ridges of Tennessee Protected areas of Hawkins County, Tennessee Protected areas of Sullivan County, Tennessee Protected areas of the Appalachians Landforms of Hawkins County, Tennessee Landforms of Sullivan County, Tennessee