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Feature article
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See nature’s wonders at Bays Mountain
By Brad Lifford
Not far from the sights and sounds of Kingsport, there’s a refuge where visitors can learn much about the Earth, much about the stars, and get an up-close look at a truck-sized praying mantis.
We’re talking about the Bays Mountain Park Nature Center, which gives visitors a good sense of the wonders of the natural world, all under one roof. The Nature Center features a wide array of exhibits, supersized insect replicas, a beehive (don’t worry, it’s behind Plexiglas), a children’s cave (crawling by children is encouraged), a room full of freshwater fish tanks and aquariums, and a planetarium that simulates the heavens in all their glory.
The Nature Center is a short, paved walk from the parking lots for visitors to Bays Mountain, a city-owned park featuring a lake that, once upon a time, served as Kingsport’s reservoir. Now it’s a nature preserve that still features the 44-acre lake on 3,000 acres that include numerous hiking trails and picnic areas.
Serving as an entrance to the outdoors is the Nature Center, a large building that is distinguished by a 40-foot domed roof that is the planetarium, which is a touchstone for visitors who have even the smallest interest in the skies above them. Planetarium staff present programs to the public twice a day on Saturdays and Sundays throughout the year; from June through August the programs are also presented twice daily, Monday through Friday. There is also an observatory located on the park grounds where the public can participate in StarWatch and MoonWatch sessions; the Bays Mountain Astronomy Club frequently holds events there and can assist novices in learning to identify and appreciate celestial objects.
The exhibits in the Nature Center also echo the history of space exploration, along with creatures of the wild. Some of them are now extinct — there’s a dodo bird in one display case and a winged dinosaur suspended from the ceiling right around the corner; downstairs on the lower level an exhibit under construction will resemble the excavation of an Edmontosaurus skeleton. Other creatures on display include several stuffed reptiles and mammals.
Public programs of a various nature are offered frequently; subjects include bats, birds of Bays Mountain (a raptor center maintains habitats for birds of prey that have been injured in the wild), wolves (a wolf pack has the run of a large, fenced habitat), snakes (a herpetarium has a variety of live, slithery creatures) and venomous animals, among others.
Public program tickets are $1.50 per person, in addition to the $3-per-car park entrance fee.
Bays Mountain Park is best reached by taking the MeadowView Exit 52 off Interstate 181. Travel west on Reservoir Road for three miles, then follow the signs to Bays Mountain Park.
For more information, call 229-9447 or visit baysmountain.com.
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