Literally. At an elevation of 5,506 feet Beech Mountain, North Carolina the highest town in the eastern USA, which keeps our temperature below 72 degrees all year long. So, summers are cool and perfect for fishing, hiking and mountain biking and the brilliant fall colors extend for weeks. Winters bring a wonderland for sledding, skiing, snowboarding, ice skating and snowshoeing.

Our town is nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of High Country and it’s best known for the Beech Mountain Resort, with ski trails, a summit deck with panoramic views and a terrain park. Other attractions include: numerous hiking trails, one of which – the creekside Falls Trail – leads to a waterfall; The Emerald Outback at Beech Mountain, an all-season biking and hiking trail park; and the 1970s amusement park Land of Oz, which opens for special events each year.

Nature lovers will truly enjoy Beech Mountain with our nearly 30-miles network of trails where you can find many unique plants and native wildlife such as: white-tailed deer, red foxes, bobcats, beavers, chipmunks, black bears, red squirrels, ruffed grouses, wood ducks, wild turkeys, to name some. And if birding is your thing, Beech Mountain, with approximately 127 bird species to be found, from the Carolina junco to red-tailed hawks, has been designated as a “hot spot” by the High Country Audubon Society.

Beech Mountain was a fertile hunting ground for its first inhabitants, the Cherokee Indians, who called Beech “Klonteska” (Pheasant).  It is said that The Great Trading Path, originally an old animal trail that Indians used, which originated in Virginia and stretched across the Carolinas to Georgia, crossed Beech Mountain.

In 1774, the first white settler to our area was Samuel Bright. Bright helped guide pioneer families from the Yadkin and Catawba River Valleys into the early Watauga settlements.

Around the turn of the 20th century, Beech Mountain was an important lumbering area. Small cabins were built where men lived during the week. Ruins of these lumber camps can still be found in some areas of Beech. 

In the 1930’s. Mr. Clinger, the head of the Department of Industrial Education at Lees-McRae College introduced the idea of skiing to his students and Beech Mountain had its first novice skiers. The students even established their own ski organization, the Skiing Zero Club.

 In 1961, Thomas Brigham, a dentist from Birmingham, Alabama, envisioned a ski resort in the South and purchased a large tract of Beech Mountain land, which he later sold to the Robbins brothers. Harry and Grover Robbins, from Blowing  Rock, were in the sawmill/lumber business, but soon became interested in developing a resort on Beech, and to that end joined other investors to create the Carolina Caribbean Corporation in 1965.

To promote land sales, the Carolina Caribbean Corporation enhanced the mountain’s appeal with a ski resort, which opened in the winter of 1967, the Beech Mountain Club, with an Olympic-sized, heated pool, 4 tennis courts, a bathhouse, and a gazebo which opened in 1969, and the Land of Oz theme park in 1970. During that same year, Carolina Caribbean created the Property Owner’s Association to “promote the health, safety and welfare of homeowners”. One of their first missions was to improve infrastructure and establish the Beech Mountain Volunteer Fire Department.

By 1975 activity at the slopes had begun to decline and the overextended Carolina Caribbean Corporation filed for bankruptcy. That winter fire and vandalism devastated the Land of Oz and while it was reopened in 1976, it never lived up to its old glory, closing down for good in 1980.

The six years to follow the bankruptcy were critical in the survival of the Beech Mountain community. The slopes and Land of Oz were released from bankruptcy and managed by the Tri-South Mortgage Corporation. Meanwhile, the Property Owners Association took on the mission to acquire, operate and maintain recreation facilities for their members. The POA board negotiated the purchase of the Club and recreational facilities from the bank and led the difficult process of incorporation. After the property owners mobilized to preserve all that had been established, in 1981, Beech Mountain incorporated and reinvented itself as a quaint town and popular resort destination.

Not just Deer, Bears, Squirrels, Birds, all creatures great and small, that’s our motto. And what’s why Beech Mountain is one of only nine communities in the state of North Carolina to be designated a Wildlife Habitat Community by The National Wildlife Federation (NWF).

To receive this recognition, numerous areas in the community both public and private were submitted to the NWF for consideration. Each area provides the following for wildlife: food, water, cover and a place to raise young. This can be as simple as a small bird bath, a nesting box for birds, edible plants, and shrubs for cover.

Community leaders and advocates for wildlife on the mountain, don’t want to harm the place we all love and welcome the opportunity to participate in preservation of nature. Beech Mountain’s Parks and Recreation Department has taken the lead in developing educational programming and creating opportunities to enjoy nature respectfully and without disruption on the local trails. Town landscaping has been carefully created to use mostly native plants, attract pollinators, and provide cover for beneficial insects and other small creatures.

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