Highlands sits at over 4,000 feet above sea level, making it one of the highest incorporated towns east of the Mississippi River. Founded in 1875 as a planned mountain resort, its location atop the southern Appalachian Plateau gives it a cool climate, dense rhododendron forests, and frequent cloud cover, an unusual microclimate that attracts both botanists and artists. The Bascom: A Center for the Visual Arts, built in a repurposed barn, features rotating exhibitions, a ceramics studio, and sculpture trail. At the Highlands Historical Society Museum, housed in a restored 1900s cabin, visitors learn about the town’s early settlers and resort-era origins.
At Lakeside Restaurant, prepare to be served seasonal, seafood-focused American cuisine in an intimate dining room that overlooks the town’s tranquil lake. Mountain Fresh Grocery has wood-fired pizza and a wine bar inside a general store. Kelsey-Hutchinson Founders Park hosts concerts and markets, and the nearby Old Edwards Inn & Spa offers mineral soaks and massage. The town supports no chain stores; each business is locally owned. The pace remains deliberate, and silence is common after 9 p.m.