Backbone Rock Recreation Area
Backbone Rock Recreation Area is a park in Tennessee, at a recorded elevation of 657 m. Buzzard Rock stands 1,553 m to the east-northeast, 11 miles off. The nearest named place is Backbone Rock, a cliff 0.1 miles away. Mount Rogers Scenic Byway passes 3.2 miles off.
What the record says
- Elevation
- 657 m
How to reach it
- 3.2 mi off the Mount Rogers Scenic Byway
- 22.4 mi off the New River Valley Byway
- 24.2 mi off the Mission Crossing
- 27.5 mi off the US 421 Scenic Byway
Overlooks nearby
- Grandview Overlook · 29 mi
Named places within 25 miles
- Butt Mountain: 2.7 mi
- Fodderstack Mountain: 4.4 mi
- Harp Mountain: 4.5 mi
- Snaggy Mountain: 4.6 mi
- Fork Mountain: 4.7 mi
- Laurel Creek Park: 3.2 mi
- Kettlefoot Wildlife Management Area: 7.9 mi
- Ralph Stout Park: 8.0 mi
- Kettlefoot Wildlife Management Area: 10.5 mi
- The Meadows Sports Complex: 11.3 mi
- Another Way (ShortCut): 1.6 mi
- Wheel of Freedom: 2.9 mi
- Another Way (ShortCut): 3.1 mi
- AT2020: 3.1 mi
- Johnson County Veterans Memorial Wall: 7.9 mi
- Clinch Mountain WMA: 17.9 mi
- Clinch Mountain WMA: 18.9 mi
- Clinch Mountain WMA: 19.6 mi
- Clinch Mountain WMA: 19.9 mi
- Clinch Mountain WMA: 20.3 mi
- Welcome Center and Museum: 8.8 mi
- Fields Penn 1860 House Museum: 12.0 mi
- Historical Society of Washington County: 12.2 mi
- William King Museum: 12.4 mi
- Museum Of The Middle Appalachians: 19.9 mi
- Whitetop Laurel Falls: 4.5 mi
- Gentry Creek Falls: 6.3 mi
- Straight Branch Falls: 6.5 mi
- Sharpes Falls: 17.2 mi
- Blue Hole Falls: 18.2 mi
- Where Trails Cross: 3.0 mi
- Virginia Creeper Trail Visitor Ctr: 3.1 mi
- Big Pinnacle: 17.1 mi
- Listening Rock: 17.1 mi
- Bristol Caverns: 17.3 mi
- Trials Playground: 10.2 mi
- Potters Truck Stop: 13.2 mi
- Elk Knob Picnic Area: 19.2 mi
- John Douglas Wayside: 21.1 mi
- Mount Jefferson Picnic Area: 23.4 mi
- Backbone Rock: 0.1 mi
- Morrison Cliff: 16.6 mi
- Bee Cliff: 24.5 mi
- Hayes Bluff: 24.9 mi
- Newman Basket Company: 3.1 mi
- Heartwood: 12.6 mi
- Wooly: 19.9 mi
- Cave Spring: 5.1 mi
- Boiling Spring: 5.1 mi
- Brig Spring: 5.8 mi
- Dr. Catherine Smith Garden: 12.6 mi
- Shady Grove Gardens & Nursery: 15.5 mi
- Virginia Welcome Center: 23.6 mi
- Tennessee Welcome Center: 24.0 mi
Summits around it
The highest named summits within 11.9 miles of Backbone Rock Recreation Area. Elevation from each summit’s own record; bearing measured between the two coordinates.
| Summit | Bearing | Elevation | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buzzard Rock | ENE 76° | 1,553 m | 11.3 mi |
| Beech Mountain | ENE 75° | 1,513 m | 10.8 mi |
| Pond Mountain | E 99° | 1,511 m | 9.0 mi |
| Pond Mountain | E 95° | 1,354 m | 8.2 mi |
| Leander Mountain | SSE 153° | 1,321 m | 11.6 mi |
| Bald Knob | SE 138° | 1,318 m | 7.6 mi |
| Winnie Knob | ESE 119° | 1,311 m | 7.0 mi |
| Rich Knob | WSW 238° | 1,295 m | 11.1 mi |
When to go
Light through the year
| Date | Sunrise | Golden hour | Sunset |
|---|---|---|---|
| March equinox | 07:32 | 19:05 | 19:39 |
| June solstice | 06:10 | 20:11 | 20:50 |
| September equinox | 07:16 | 18:52 | 19:26 |
| December solstice | 07:36 | 16:36 | 17:16 |
Local time (America/New_York).
Climate normals
Months averaging 50–80 °F: Apr–Oct.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg °F | 34 | 37 | 44 | 53 | 61 | 68 | 71 | 70 | 65 | 55 | 45 | 38 |
| Precip in | 3.7 | 3.4 | 4.1 | 4.3 | 5.1 | 4.5 | 5.0 | 4.2 | 3.3 | 2.8 | 2.9 | 3.9 |
1991–2020 U.S. Climate Normals, NOAA NCEI — MTN City 2, 8 mi away.
- mountain spleenwort14 obs
- galax13 obs
- mountain laurel9 obs
- american witch-hazel9 obs
- great rhododendron7 obs
- partridgeberry7 obs
- ebony spleenwort7 obs
- citronella horse balm7 obs
Research-grade iNaturalist community observations within 3 km — what people have recorded, not a species inventory.
Where this comes from
Location and category confirmed against OpenStreetMap.
OpenStreetMapWikidataOpenStreetMap element node/356894934
Day trips start here
- Bristol · 21 mi
- Elizabethton · 30 mi
Take the scenic way to Backbone Rock Recreation Area.
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