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A Precious Habitat
Written By: Lance Hardin - Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust | Issue: November 2024
The untrammeled Brushy Face Preserve is a legacy of the Plateau’s natural heritage.
Brushy Face Preserve, a 74-acre property of the Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust, protects old growth trees, two gurgling streams that form the headwaters of Clear Creek, and provides habitat for countless species of native fauna and flora. Only minutes from downtown Highlands, the lower portion of the property is open to the public and laced with almost two miles of trails – a natural oasis, but the property’s legacy includes some of our area’s most colorful residents.
In January 1875 William “Billy” Webb purchased 80 acres “on the headwaters of the Sugarfork River” from W.B. Dobson for $238. (Two months later Dobson sold most of his remaining land on the Plateau to two land speculators from Kansas, but that’s another story.) Webb had originally arrived in the 1850s and lived in the area that still bears his name, Billy Cabin Ridge near Flat Mountain.
His grandson, Joe Webb, would later be renowned for his prized log cabins. Billy Webb and his family cared for what is now Brushy Face Preserve for more than forty years.
In 1923 the property was acquired by Eléonore Raoul; hailing from a well-connected Atlanta family, Raoul was an attorney (and the first female graduate of Emory Law School in 1920) and a leader in the suffrage movement. To Eléonore Raoul and her family, Brushy Face was a rustic respite that they enjoyed and protected for almost 50 years.
The 1980s saw a few homes sprout on the ridge of Brushy Face, but care was taken to preserve the mountain’s natural slopes.
Suddenly, however, in the early 2000s development threatened, with plans that included many homesites and even a condominium directly atop Clear Creek’s headwaters. Thankfully, however, the ensuing “housing bubble” financial crisis limited sales, and Brushy Face neighbors saw an opportunity to acquire the land in 2011 and transfer ownership to HCLT, thus finally ensuring permanent conservation of this incredible natural resource.
To explore Brushy Face Preserve, from Highlands drive a few minutes south on Highway 28 (4th Street), turn right on Brushy Face Road, and then the next two lefts; signs will indicate a parking area at the end of the small looping cul-de-sac. A downloadable map is available on the HCLT website at hcltnc.org/hiking-trails.html. For more ideas about exploring our incredible region please follow HCLT on Facebook and Instagram.
