Bicycling, whether road or mountain style, is probably more than ever in our area and throughout the Mountain South. Thanks in large part to the great many proponents of this fun and healthy sport who live in our region, there are plenty of opportunities to pedal for fun, health, personal challenge and competition. Country byways, city streets, park and greenway paths and mountain trails abound. Following is a small sampling:
The 12-mi. trail system at WPSP is one of the best and most popular in the area. Designed and built by mountain bikers, there are 14 trails, most of which are designated intermediate to difficult, while two are considered beginner trails. Two-wheelers love the lakeside single track and the varied terrain. Located in Kingsport at Warrior’s Path State Park.
Great for families and beginners. See entry under HIKING section.
32 miles of both single and double track adventure awaits bikers of all skill levels at Bays Mountain. A beautiful mountaintop lake, lots of wildlife and scenic, forested terrain make Bays a must-do trip. The trails are located at Kingsport’s Bays Mountain Park, only a few miles from downtown—and there’s plenty of other great stuff to check out at this cool park, from its adventure course to its planetarium and nature museum.
Tannery Knobs is a professionally designed and built, 40-acre, mountaintop bike park, located nearly smack in the middle of downtown Johnson City. You can literally ride the Knobs in the morning, bike down for lunch at one of JC’s great dining spots and pedal right back to the mountain for an afternoon session. Here you’ll find killer views of the surrounding city and mountains, as well as some of the most interesting single track around. Truly “a skills park for all ages.”
The bike trails on Buffalo Mountain were some of the first in the area. They have long been considered the domain of more experienced riders, both for the challenging nature of the terrain and the fact they are shared with other kinds of users. This area is not for beginners or the casual family bike outing, but if you know your way around rugged single track and can handle sharing it with two and four wheeled motorized trail traffic, this might be a fun & challenging place to test your skills. The trailhead is at Horse Cove Gap, a few miles south of Johnson City.