Highlands: Nature, Art and Trails

Highlands, North Carolina, brings together nature experiences, art, and trails, offering many different ways to explore. At the Highlands Nature Center, the focus is on exhibits, hands-on activities, and programs about the biodiversity of the southern Appalachian region. The Bascom complements these themes with art classes and workshops. When choosing a vacation rental in Highlands, you can consider whether nature, outdoor activity, or art will shape your stay most.

Discover nature and choose a trail

The Highlands Nature Center was founded in 1927 as a museum of the Highlands Biological Station. Its exhibits, hands-on activities, and programs focus on the biodiversity of the southern Appalachian region. The Highlands Botanical Gardens also showcase the botanical diversity of the Blue Ridge Escarpment and the surrounding southern Appalachian region. Nature enthusiasts can explore these topics in different ways: the Nature Center focuses on exhibits and hands-on activities, while the gardens highlight plant diversity.

Two destinations with different descriptions are among the options for a hike. The Satulah Mountain Trail is a 1.6-mile walking trail rated moderate to strenuous. Sunset Rock is a short hiking trail with scenic views. The route there is a 0.5-mile hike along a gravel road.

Sunset Rock is a few hundred yards from downtown Highlands. There, a natural amphitheater of granite slabs offers views of sunsets over the town. The combination of a short hike and scenic views may appeal to travelers looking to pair an outing with a distinctive destination. The Satulah Mountain Trail, with its explicitly stated moderate-to-strenuous difficulty, offers a different hiking option. The two trails can thus be distinguished by their length and stated difficulty.

Art and places in town

The Bascom offers classes, workshops, and other hands-on opportunities in several artistic media. They are open to artists of all ages and experience levels. The campus is located on a six-acre former horse farm in Highlands, North Carolina. It includes exhibition spaces, classrooms, and a nature trail. If you’d like to include art in your trip, you’ll find both hands-on opportunities and exhibition spaces here; the nature trail is another part of the campus.

Another place to get your bearings is the Historic Village of the Highlands Historical Society, at 524 N. 4th Street in Highlands, North Carolina. This address identifies the Historic Village’s location and can help you include it in your plans. Along with the nature and art attractions mentioned, it shows that Highlands offers more than one possible focus for a stay, without requiring a set itinerary.

The Greenway and choosing a trip that suits you

Oak Street in downtown Highlands is the main starting point for the Highlands Plateau Greenway and provides access to all of its trails. The Highlands Plateau Greenway is a nonprofit organization. Its goal is to improve, expand, and maintain a system of connected walking and hiking trails in and around Highlands. When planning your visit, Oak Street is therefore a specific point of reference if you’d like to explore the Greenway’s trails.

If you’d like to consider several of these aspects, you can weigh them when choosing a vacation rental or other accommodation in Highlands. You can also find pages for other nearby places here: Topton and Franklin.

For the broader travel overview: Macon County.