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Kids at Bays Day
May 17 @ 10:00 am - 3:00 pm
Bays Mountain Park is hosting its annual Kids at Bays Day later this month as an opportunity for children of all ages to enjoy the outdoors while participating in a variety of engaging activities at the park.
Kids at Bays Day will take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on May 17. All of the animal habitats, hiking and biking trails and the Nature Center will be open for discovery and exploration. In addition, food trucks will be on site and located behind the Day Camp cabin.
All of the following events are free with a $7 paid entrance fee:
- Animal Encounters: 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the animal habitats
- Astronomy: 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Lily Pad Pavilion.
- Fishing: 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Dam
- Gardening: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Farmstead Museum
- Loom Demonstration: 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Farmstead Museum
- Make a Mountain Toy: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Farmstead Museum.
- Mountain Bike Safety: 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the mountain bike parking lot. You must bring your own bike and helmet.
- Nature Center Activities: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Nature Center
- Rock Painting: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Farmstead Museum.
- Yoga for Kids: 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on the observatory lawn.
The park will also have a free program on snakes, raptors, wolves, and other types of animals that live in the woods. The observatory will offer a night view of the sky from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
“Kids at Bays Day is a great opportunity to get your children out of the house, away from their devices and to reconnect with nature,” said Megan Krager, Bays Mountain Park manager. “We’ll have a variety of programs happening all across the park that day, so no matter your interests we should have something right up your alley.”
In addition to the free programs, the park will also have its usual paid programs on May 17. Barge rides and planetarium shows are $6 per person. Tickets can be purchased online or in the gift shop.
Barge Rides will take place at 10 a.m., 12 p.m., 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. Planetarium Shows will be at 12 p.m., 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.
Kids at Bays Day is organized and sponsored by the Bays Mountain Park Association.
For more information contact Chief Ranger of Visitor Engagement Miranda Wanninger at 423-224-2861.
About Bays Mountain Park & Planetarium
Annually, more than 200,000 visitors pass through Bays Mountain Park making it one of the State of Tennessee’s Top 50 Most Visited Attractions, according to the State of Tennessee Department of Tourist Development. One of the nation’s largest city-owned parks with 3,750 acres, Bays Mountain Park features roughly 44 miles of hiking trails, a state-of-the-art planetarium, wildlife habitats, fun exhibits, a 44-acre lake, ropes course with zip line, trails for mountain biking and much, much more. For more information, please visit www.baysmountain.com.
About the City of Kingsport
Founded in 1917, the City of Kingsport (pop. 55,400) is located on the Tennessee-Virginia border at the crossroads of I-81 and I-26 near the geographic center of the eastern United States. The city is widely known as a planned community, designed by renowned city planner John Nolen and wrapping around the foot of Bays Mountain – a 3,750-acre park, nature preserve, planetarium and observatory. Kingsport is recognized as an International Safe Community by the National Safety Council, a Healthier Tennessee community, and won the 2009 Harvard Innovations in American Government Award for its higher education initiatives. While many city names are duplicated throughout the U.S., there’s only one Kingsport – a fact that invokes community pride, known locally as the “Kingsport Spirit.” For more information, please visit www.kingsporttn.gov.
