Laurel Park

Laurel Park sits on the eastern slopes of Jump Off Mountain, directly west of Hendersonville and about 26 miles south of Asheville. The town began as a resort in the late 1800s, when cottages, lodges and camps went up around the lakes below Echo Mountain. Rainbow Lake was the draw: a rail line from Fifth Avenue in Hendersonville reached it by 1903, bringing day-trippers for boating, swimming and the gaming tables of the Laurel Park Casino. In 1925, the year the town incorporated, a developer started a fifteen-story hotel at the top of Jump Off Mountain; it stalled at the thirteenth floor and was torn down in 1939. The resort era faded and the town became residential; the 2020 census counted 2,250 residents in about 2.8 square miles.

The town's elevation is listed at 2,763 feet, and Laurel Park Highway climbs to Jump Off Rock, an eight-acre park at about 3,100 feet with views of the Blue Ridge and Pisgah ranges and three short trails. Homes line the ridges and lakeshores on both sides of the highway, and the overlook is about five miles from Main Street in Hendersonville. Elevation, long views and a short drive to town are what draw buyers here.