We spent last week at Bear Lake Reserve in western North Carolina. Here is the first of three recaps of our trip including where we stayed, the lodge, and lake life.
Wait a second, this isn’t Bald Head Island?! We pivoted our family vacation from the beach to the mountains at the last minute when Hurricane Debby threatened hard rain and wind for the duration of our time scheduled on Bald Head. We went as far south and west as we could that made driving reasonable and to get out of the path of the storm. Kudos to dad and my sister for pulling it together the day before we left!
We made the right choice though because we had PERFECT weather for our week at Bear Lake Reserve! My sister’s friends recommended it, and what a gem this place is. Here’s the recap of our family trip.
Bear Lake Reserve
Bear Lake Reserve is a mountain resort about an hour west of Asheville, North Carolina. It’s quite literally in the middle of nowhere surrounding Bear Lake, which is a man-made reservoir. As far as lakes go, this one is on the small side, but there was plenty of space for boating, swimming, and fishing.
Bear Lake Reserve is a sprawling resort with homes, condos, and villas for both full-time homeowners and guests who rent them out like us.
The Bears
There are apparently lots of bears who live among the reserve. We heard there was a family of them on our villa’s porch just the week before! I was a little scared to go running alone or out after dark, but I sadly didn’t see any bears while we were there! Thomas and Mazen saw a family on the way home from golf.
Getting There
The drive from Charlottesville was about 7 hours with a few stops, but we all agreed the mountain views made the drive more pleasant than the drive to the beach.
There is a greeter’s cottage when you enter the resort that will give you a nice property map right when you begin to lose cell service! We found the staff to all be so friendly and helpful across the whole resort.
It was about a 20 minute curvy drive from the greeter’s cottage to our villa, but the views at the top were worth it!!
Our Villa
We rented Saddle Notch Villa #7 which had gorgeous views of the mountains and the even the lake. We LOVED the porches!! The villa had 4 bedrooms and a couch/TV/family room that Mazen slept in, so it was the perfect size for us. It was beautifully decorated, stocked, and so nice for our fam.
We had a fire pit that was great for s’mores at night. It’s shared with other villa guests/owners but we made friends with some nice families out there!
Groceries
Note you’ll want to pack all of your groceries because there isn’t really a store nearby. We brought almost everything we needed for staples, and ended up doing an Instacart order from the Ingles in the next town for dinner ingredients one night. We did not have a great experience with our driver who left them at the cottage instead of delivering them, but the nice staff brought them up to us. The cottage and coffee shop do have a few things like milk and snacks if you need some quick things.
First Night Dinner
Breakfast + Lunch with a view
Waiting For The Cousins
My sister and her family didn’t arrive until Monday night, so there was much anticipation for their arrival!
Taco Night
We brought taco ingredients from home and made them for dinner on night 2.
Getting Around
We were a little bummed to find that the hike to the pool and beach was in fact a hike, however, many of us did this 0.8 mile hike/walk daily. There were two wooded trails you could take or you could walk on the road. Going down wasn’t bad, but coming up wasn’t for the faint of heart. It wasn’t bad with a small backpack, but you’re not going to want to carry pool gear or coolers up and down, so we usually had 1-2 cars drive down with the gear and the humans chose whether to go on foot or in the car.
The entrance to the lower trail
Or you could walk on the road. We didn’t let the kids go alone.
It was a hike back up!
The Lodge
About a mile down the mountain is the beautiful lodge! The pool was amazing, and the kids loved it! There was a waterslide and hot tubs, and they heated the pool on our one chilly day. There was also a poolside bar where we enjoyed tropical drinks and a few lunches.
There was also a fitness center I used a few times, a sauna and steam room, locker rooms and of course a nice restaurant where we ate twice. They had lots of little activities for kids, but most of them cost extra so we didn’t end up doing any.
The Lake
The lake was absolutely stunning! Mazen and Thomas rented some kayaks on the first day and spent most of the day fishing. Unfortunately, they didn’t catch anything. We didn’t see many fish swimming either (much to my delight!) so this must not be a huge fishing lake. It was lovely for swimming and tubing though.
Dinner at the Lodge
On Tuesday we did a big night out at the lodge. The food was pretty good!
Sarah says
This looks awesome! Way to pivot last minute and make the most of it – truly looks like a stunning vacation and a perfect combo of mountains + water. If you don’t mind sharing, I’m curious – did you lose out on all the money from the BHI house? And was this place super pricey given the last minute nature? That would be a hard pill to swallow but worth it so you didn’t have to sit inside your whole vacation! Thanks for sharing!
Kath Younger says
We usually rent a house, but this year we were going to our family home on the marsh, so we got really lucky that we didn’t lose anything (aside from potential rental income). The mountain house wasn’t too bad all things considered.
Jackie says
Mazen is almost bigger than you!!! Looks like a nice vacation spot!!!
Kath Younger says
I KNOW! He’s going to pass me soon!