Black Mountain and The Settings of Black Mountain

Black Mountain is the Swannanoa Valley's main town, 15 miles east of Asheville on Interstate 40 at exits 64 and 65, incorporated in 1893 and home to 8,426 people at the 2020 census. It sits at 2,333 feet in the upper Swannanoa Valley, with Montreat bordering it to the north and the Swannanoa community to the west. State Street, which carries US 70, is the downtown, a National Register historic district of small shops, galleries and restaurants. Lake Tomahawk Park, opened Labor Day weekend 1934 as a federal relief project, has a 0.55-mile loop path, tennis courts and views toward Graybeard. Flooding from

The Settings of Black Mountain is the only gated community inside the town limits: 370 acres on the slopes above downtown, platted in three phases into 278 lots between 2,500 and 3,750 feet in elevation. Lots range from a quarter acre to about 6 acres, grouped as cottage, park, estate and grand estate sites. Roughly 115 acres are preserved through the North American Land Trust, and there are about 2 miles of wooded trails to an overlook, a clubhouse with a stone fireplace, a playground, underground utilities with natural gas and fiber, and a guardhouse. Most homes are Craftsman-influenced, in stone, timber and cedar shake. Lot sales began in the mid-2000s.