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“The greatest gift of life on the mountain is time. Time to think or not think, read or not read,
scribble or not scribble—to sleep and cook and walk in the woods, to sit and stare at the shapes of the hills.”
– Phillip Connors
The Lodge & Gathering Spaces
Situated on 88 acres in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Lodge Lore is a private mountain home retreat that blends rusticity and comfort. Once home to a doctor’s holistic wellness practice, later a fishing lodge by collective ownership, since the Spring of 2021 with new ownership, it has been reimagined, refreshed, and renamed. The main Lodge and three log cabins have been lovingly restored to the beams and stones. Careful renovations embrace the original structures while providing stylish accommodations and amenities. Recreation space abounds by the private river frontage, in the grassy meadows, by “Turtle Pond,” the “Lost Library,” and “Cookout Cove.”
Here we experience what John Muir penned of the “vast, calm, measureless mountain days … in whose light everything seems equally divine.”
Explore The Lodge here.
The Lodge is the largest of the three cabins on the property, accommodating family vacations, celebrations, ceremonies, and retreats. Family and guests enjoy gathering in the spacious living rooms, cooking and dining in the gourmet kitchen, and lingering by the hearth. Fall asleep in comfort, listening to the river’s lullaby and waking to the delicate blue mist that rolls in from the ancient mountaintops.
The Hobbit and Goldilocks are hand-hewn log cabins assembled long ago beside the roads and footpaths that meander upwards between the ole barn and apple orchard.
Adjacent to the Lodge sits the Lost Library, a recreational and reflective space neatly retrofitted in the property’s original log cabin home. Cookout Cove is a covered pavilion designed for outdoor dining around scenic garden beds; the standing remains of an old stone hearth, and a clear view of the river below.
Things to Do & Places of Interest
Drive 7 miles to the Blue Ridge Parkway. Take in views of East Fork Valley from the Great Balsams to Cold Mountain. Fish in the Pigeon River, golf at Springdale Resort, bike at Chestnut Mountain Nature Park, hike or rest in between Looking Glass Falls or the Mountains-To-Sea trail, visit the Cradle of Forestry, or head to one of the nearby towns of Canton and Waynesville to enjoy local fare, festivities, and crisp mountain lager. Explore all the places you can go around Wagon Gap Trail here.
The History of Wagon Gap Trail
We respectfully acknowledge this sentient land is the spiritual and ancestral home of the Anikituwagi, more commonly known as the Cherokee. We recognize the Cherokee as its first people and original stewards.
In history since, homesteaders, moonshiners, holistic wellness practitioners, trout anglers, campers, wedders, and mountain-loafing lovers have made homes and memories at Wagon Gap Trail. The memory of the land, its creatures, and people travel across the river, trace between the towering trees, pour through streams, lakes, and ponds, and are solaced in the hearths, stacked stone, and hewn logs that make up the walls of its storied cabins.
View a brief timeline and collection of stories that shaped Wagon Gap Trail here.
The Galleries
Enjoy a closer look at the natural beauty surrounding Lodge Lore at Wagon Gap Trail. Meet some of the four, six, and eight-legged relatives. View the colors of changing seasons. Explore the finer details of the Lodge, the Hobbit, and Goldilocks cabins nestled among the ole apple orchard, roads, and footpaths.
Asheville | Canton | Waynesville | Brevard | Cruso
Blue Ridge Mountains | Blue Ridge Parkway | Pisgah National Forest | East Fork Pigeon River | Shinning Rock Wilderness | Balsam Mountains | Old Butt Knob | Big Butt | Cold Mountain | Mountains-to-Sea Trail | Chestnut Mountain | Great Smoky Mountains | Appalachia | Western North Carolina