Bear Lake Reserve

Bear Lake Reserve sits in the Tuckasegee valley of central Jackson County, off NC 107 beyond the Tuckasegee community, which is itself seven miles southeast of Cullowhee, on the shore of Bear Creek Lake. The lake was built in 1954 by Nantahala Power and Light, now part of Duke Energy, as one of the stair-step hydro reservoirs on the river's East Fork; the state gazetteer puts it at 476 acres, and the community calls it Bear Lake. The entrance is gated, and the best lots look down on the water and across to the Blue Ridge.

Life here centers on the Lake Club: a beach, pools, one with a water slide, a marina with boat rentals, dining, tennis and pickleball, a kids' camp and an amphitheater. The Bear Lake Golf Club is a nine-hole, par-29 Nicklaus Design course of 1,932 yards that opened in 2008 and plays between 3,400 and 3,700 feet. Housing is more varied than at most mountain clubs, from lodge condos and villas to cottages and custom lakefront homes, and an on-site vacation-rental operation lets owners rent out their homes. Cashiers and Sylva are both reached by NC 107; Asheville is about an hour and a half.