Kingsport Times-News: bays mountain park
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nature

Tennessee Naturalist Program returns to Bays Mountain Park

The Tennessee Naturalist Program is an education training course designed to introduce the natural history of Tennessee to interested adults. Graduates join a critical corps of Tennessee Naturalist volunteers providing education, outreach and service dedicated to the appreciation, understanding and beneficial management of natural resources and natural areas within their communities.

Jul 20, 2019 at 2:30 PM
The show promises great fun with lots of learning experiences in all-things geology for all ages.
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Sunday Stories

Kingsport Gems and Minerals Show returns to Bays Mountain

KINGSPORT — The annual Kingsport Gems & Minerals Society show returns to Bays Mountain’s Discovery Theater from noon to 5 p.m., July 13-14. Admission is free, as is park admission because the show coincides with Fun Fest.

Updated Jul 11, 2019 at 10:30 AM
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Bays Mountain Park

Beloved otter's death brings outpouring of support

Otto was fast on the way to becoming the face of Bays Mountain Park. Anyone who came to the park could easily see that he was personable, engaging and energetic.

Jun 8, 2019 at 9:00 AM
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Bays Mountain Park

Bays Mountain Park otter dies after medical emergency

Otto came to the park as a 9-month-old in October 2017 from a rehabilitation facility in North Carolina. The facility cared for Otto and his sibling after they lost their parents in the flood. The hope was to release them back into the wild, but the pups had lost their fear of humans, so Otto found a new home at Bays Mountain Park.

Updated May 30, 2019 at 2:57 PM
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Outdoors

Black bear spotted at Riverfront Park

The best advice when dealing with black bears is to leave them alone and give them plenty of space. If you have to scare off a bear, then make a loud noise by banging on something or yelling.

May 29, 2019 at 8:39 AM
Cassy Rose, exhibit designer, and Allen Davis, exhibit supervisor, stand near the top of the newly renovated and expanded bee exhibit at Bays Mountain Park. The exhibit officially opened on Thursday.
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Bays Mountain Park

Bays Mountain Park opens beehive exhibit

Bays Mountain Park has transformed a section of the nature center into a giant, honeycomb - complete with bee hives, interactive components, educational displays and trivia facts about honeybees. This new display is officially open to the public

May 24, 2019 at 12:57 PM
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Outdoors

The Great Outdoors - Enjoy a day at the park on Saturday

A nationwide celebration of the great outdoors is taking place this Saturday and you can participate by taking a short drive to Bays Mountain Park, or a slightly longer one just up the road to Natural Tunnel State Park.

May 16, 2019 at 5:30 PM
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Bays Mountain Park

Celebrate the moon landing at Bays Mountain Park

“First & Farthest” covers the Space Race and the Apollo program that would make that goal a reality on July 20, 1969. The show runs approximately 35 minutes and will play through the end of August.

Apr 30, 2019 at 7:15 PM
This new parking lot is roughly across the street from the nature center and existing parking lots.
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Bays Mountain Park

More parking for Bays Mountain Park

KINGSPORT — Bays Mountain Park is getting some much-needed additional parking, but the construction project will temporarily limit parking for visitors

Apr 23, 2019 at 9:10 AM
A couple of volunteers work to clean and repair a section of Fern Trail following some rains. If you're interested in helping clean up the trails in and around the Nature Center, an upcoming event may just be for you.
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Outdoors

Celebrate Earth Day by helping clean up Bays Mountain Park

The clean-up event at Bays Mountain Park is in connection to Keep Kingsport Beautiful’s annual “Clean Sweep Kingsport” initiative, which has volunteers in seven locations throughout the city, cleaning up, picking up debris and trash and working to make the city a nicer place.

Apr 13, 2019 at 6:30 PM
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Bays Mountain Park

Monroeville to perform at Bays Mountain Park

While Monroeville’s style is based in bluegrass, the band’s expert musicianship lets them experiment with other genres to keep their sound fresh. They’re not afraid to improvise while playing live, which makes each concert experience with Monroeville an exciting one.

Mar 25, 2019 at 8:00 PM
Josh George sits with a group of students during one of Bays Mountain Park's summer day camp sessions. Registration is now open for the 2019 summer day camp sessions, available to rising 1st through 6th grade students.
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Outdoors

Adventure and learning come together at Bays Mountain Park

A current family membership with the park is required to register your child or grandchild for day camp. Family memberships are $50 and give your family an entire year of free entry into the park for one vehicle and up to six free passes per program (planetarium shows, barge rides and nature programs) every time you visit the park.

Mar 10, 2019 at 8:30 PM
One option Kingsport considered was to expand the park’s current septic system (shown in the picture). However, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation would not permit Kingsport to renovate or expand that system. More than 200,000 visitors come to the park every year and since the current septic system is built to only handle 70,000 visitors, Cole said this situation puts a significant amount of stress on the system.
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Bays Mountain Park

Parking, wastewater improvements coming to Bays Mountain Park

Bays Mountain Park will be going through two rounds of improvements later this spring - the addition of 75 new parking spaces across from the nature center and the tying into the city’s sewer system at the bottom of the mountain. Neither project should affect park hours.

Jan 19, 2019 at 7:30 PM
Bob Miller, a long-time Kingsport resident, celebrated his 100th birthday on Oct. 29 with a backward ride down the 310-foot zip line at Bays Mountain. He then led a group hike on Nov.5.
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Sunday Stories

Scrapbook Showcase: A Walk in the Park

Today's Scrapbook Showcase features photos from a November hike with Kingsport centenarian Bob Miller. The photos were taken and submitted by Nancy V. Knight.

“I was fortunate to be able to hike with our famous Bob Miller on Monday, Nov. 5,

Dec 6, 2018 at 10:30 AM
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nature

Bays Mountain's wolf expert learns more about animals during week at Yellowstone

KINGSPORT — Bays Mountain  Naturalist Rhonda Goins recently took a trip to Yellowstone National Park to join in with the Wolf Tracker program, spending a week in the great outdoors tracking and watching the wolves of Yellowstone.

Nov 18, 2018 at 7:30 PM
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