Lake Junaluska

Lake Junaluska sits about two and a half miles from downtown Waynesville along US 276, where Richland Creek was dammed between 1911 and 1913 to form a 200-acre lake at roughly 2,670 feet. Methodist pastors James Atkins and George R. Stuart drove the project, and the Southern Assembly bought about 1,200 acres for it; the first conference met in Stuart Auditorium in June 1913. The Southeastern Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church has owned the grounds since 1948. The Lambuth Inn, built in 1921, is on the National Register, and the lighted cross at Inspiration Point has marked the skyline since 1922.

Today the assembly is a conference and retreat center and a year-round community at once. A 2.3-mile paved path circles the lake, with a longer 3.8-mile loop; the Rose Walk follows the shore and the Corneille Bryan Native Garden holds more than 500 native species. There is a public 18-hole, par-68 golf course and the 105-room Terrace Hotel. Around the water, the census-designated place counted 3,219 residents in 2020, living in cottages and lake houses on the surrounding slopes. The setting is quiet and walkable, a few minutes from Waynesville's Main Street.