Lonesome Valley

Lonesome Valley fills the floor of a canyon walled by Cow Rock Mountain and Laurel Knob, whose granite faces rise roughly 1,000 to 1,200 feet. The community is nearly 800 acres, with nearly 300 acres kept as common green space, in Jackson County between Cashiers and Sapphire; its mailing address is Sapphire. The land was the Jennings family farm, where Dick Jennings raised mink and then trout from the late 1940s and built what is described as the first commercial trout farm in the eastern United States. The farm buildings became the amenities.

Canyon Kitchen, the seasonal restaurant in the restored Jennings Barn, serves May through October by reservation and is the valley's best-known feature; Canyon Spa, which is open to the public, occupies the old Caretaker's Cottage. Residents have a Fitness Barn, a pool, a racquet-sports complex, two lakes including a stocked trophy trout pond, two waterfalls of about 200 feet each and about ten miles of groomed trails. Plans call for 187 homes, and the entrance is gated.