The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center

A dwarf, old-growth white oak forest sits perched at the top of Little Scaly Mountain, four miles southwest of Highlands, North Carolina. The trees here have their roots spread across granite cliffs and show the effects of the harsh environment through their small, gnarled forms. Their stunted forms are resilient toward the intense winds that shear across the mountain bald. These trees have been dated to 400 and 500 years old by Clemson University dendrologists.  The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center, an environmentally focused Unitarian Universalist retreat, shares the top of Little Scaly Mountain and offers a space for meetings, retreats, and events.  This old-growth forest is approximately 10 acres and is protected and cared for with the help of the Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust.

The Mountain sites on the Blue Ridge divide, where water flowing from the south-facing cliffs travels to the Atlantic Ocean and water on the northern side flows to the Gulf of Mexico. This area also receives a significant amount of rainfall (over 100 inches in many areas) as saturated air from the Gulf of Mexico meets the cooler, higher elevation mountain sides, creating a temperate rainforest environment.

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