Wolf Laurel is a

gated community A gated community (or walled community) is a form of residential community or housing estate containing strictly controlled entrances for pedestrians, bicycles, and automobiles, and often characterized by a closed perimeter of walls and fences ...

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States * Madison (footballer), Brazilian footballer Places in the United States Populated places * Madi ...

and Yancey counties in western

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

, United States. The

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

is located approximately north of

Asheville Asheville ( ) is a city in Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the county seat of Buncombe County. It is the most populous city in Western North Carolina a ...

and east of

Interstate 26 Interstate 26 (I-26) is a main route of the Interstate Highway System in the Southeastern United States. Nominally east–west, as indicated by its even number, I-26 runs from the junction of U.S. Route 11W, US Route 11W (US 11W) ...

, and borders the

Cherokee National Forest The Cherokee National Forest is a United States National Forest located in the U.S. states of Tennessee and North Carolina that was created on June 14, 1920. The forest is maintained and managed by the United States Forest Service. It encompas ...

, the

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

state line and the

Appalachian Trail The Appalachian Trail, also called the A.T., is a hiking trail in the Eastern United States, extending almost between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine, and passing through 14 states.Gailey, Chris (2006)"Appalachian Tra ...

. It is named after Wolf Laurel Branch, which flows into Puncheon Fork after leaving the community upstream. The community is composed mostly of summer and part-time residences, nestled within the valleys and perched on the slopes of the

Walnut Mountains A walnut is the edible seed of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. They are accessory fruit because the outer covering of the fruit is technically an in ...

, at elevations ranging from to over in altitude. Located within the community are tennis courts and recreational center, a golf course and country club center, numerous hiking trails, and road access to the national forest lands and Appalachian Trail. Skiers from around the

Southeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, Radius, radially arrayed compass directions (or Azimuth#In navigation, azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A ''compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, ...

visit Wolf Laurel, primarily for the ski resort contained partly within the community boundary. Hatley Pointe Boutique Ski Resort is one of several ski resorts in western North Carolina, recently undergoing $10 million in renovations in 2023/2024. Wolf Laurel also boasts the highest elevation bed & breakfast in North Carolina, the Bald Mountain House, at 4,500’ elevation. It is located within the community gates and open year round. Due to the altitude and because of lying within a region which is subjected to a regular meteorological phenomenon known as Northwest Flow snow events,Flow Snow
noaa.gov the average annual snowfall is uncharacteristic of other areas this far south. During the winter months, the community is lightly resided, and mostly attended with visitors to the ski resort.

References

Unincorporated communities in Madison County, North Carolina Unincorporated communities in Yancey County, North Carolina Unincorporated communities in North Carolina {{MadisonCountyNC-geo-stub