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Highlands Plateau Greenway
The Highlands Plateau Greenway is a non-profit organization whose mission is to develop a system of walking and hiking trails that protect and connect the natural settings and historic sites of the Highlands, N. C., area. It is intended to be a locally owned and managed trail system for walkers and hikers of existing and planned paths along a continuous, safe, green route, easily identified through signage, maps, and user guides designed to promote the public’s enjoyment and appreciation of the natural and historical environment, as well as quality of life on the Highlands plateau.
15 miles of natural trails and sidewalks are open and free to the public daily from sunrise to sunset.
Please be considerate of other hikers, joggers, and visitors on the Greenway
Be respectful and do not remove or disturb any plants or wildflowers along the trails.
A Brief History of
Although the Highlands plateau was created 350 million years ago on the crest of the world's oldest mountains, the village of Highlands in Macon County, North Carolina, was founded in 1875 by Samuel Kelsey and C. C. Hutchinson, two developers living in Kansas. They created a health and summer resort at more than 4,000 feet on the highest crest of the western North Carolina plateau in the Southern Appalachian Mountains.
Since its founding, the demographic mixture of Highlands has been remarkably unique. Settled by hardy pioneers from across the nation, sober industrious tradesmen from the North, Scotch-Irish laborers and craftsmen from the surrounding mountains and valleys, and wealthy aristocratic planters and professionals from the South, the town has served as a cultural center for well-known artists, musicians, actors, authors, photographers, scholars, and scientists who have thrived in its natural setting.
The result has been a town too cosmopolitan to be provincial, too broadly based to be singular in attitude and perspective, too enamored of its natural surroundings to be totally indifferent to them, and just isolated enough and small enough to be anxious about the benefits and setbacks of growth and development.
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- Randolph P. Shaffner
A History of The Highlands Plateau Greenway
The Highlands Plateau Greenway is a non-profit organization whose mission is to enhance, develop, and maintain a system of interconnected walking and hiking trails in and around Highlands, N.C. The birth of the Greenway trail system in Highlands evolved around five goals: recreation, transportation, beautification, watershed improvement, and wildlife habitat enhancement.
2005
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2007
Getting on The Greenway
Oak Street is the center hub of The Highlands Plateau Greenway. Centrally located in downtown Highlands with abundant street parking, this is your nexus to any trail on the Greenway.
Learn More about the trails below:
Happy Trails: Hikes to Enjoy on The Greenway
2009
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2020
Beyond 2020
Long-range proposals are for a boardwalk connecting Highlands School with the Peggy Crosby Center and Harris Lake, a New Kelsey Trail Loop in the Kelsey Preserve, more trails at the Biological Station, and a trail to Blackrock Mountain and on to Granite City in Whiteside Cove.
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Since its incorporation in 2008, the Greenway has doubled from five to ten miles of trails from Sunset Rock to Big Bear Pen, to the Botanical Garden and the Bowery Road, to the Rec Park, Oak Street Lane, and Mirror Lake, and to Oak Street. These trails are intended to fulfill the Greenway's goal of helping pedestrians get around town without having to walk on its streets. Its goal is being fully realized by the large number of residents and visitors who use the trail daily for that purpose and the many volunteers who devote their time and considerable talents to maintaining, improving, extending, and creating the Greenway.
Registration
Explore our History & Newsletter Archives
Click on a date marker to find out more
Get in Touch
President: Sonya Carpenter
Vice President: Jim Chance
Secretary: Kathy Smith
Treasurer: Phyllis Davis
Ex-officio: Lester Norris
Emeritus: Ran Shaffner
Board Members:
Laura Harris, Mike King, Eric Pierson,
John Thompson