The Mountain on Asheville's Old Postcards Is Becoming Buncombe County's Largest Park

By Jon Tharp, Broker  ·  September 30, 2026

If you have ever picked up an old "Land of the Sky" postcard of Asheville, you have probably looked at Deaverview Mountain without knowing its name. The 3,118-foot peak west of the city has been the backdrop for Asheville in those postcards going back to the 1930s, and until this spring it was private land. As of March, it belongs to Buncombe County. As of September 15, the county has hired the firm that will design the park.

Commissioners approved a $1.39 million contract with Equinox Environmental at their September 15 meeting to produce a master plan and engineering designs for Deaverview Mountain Park. The property runs to just over 342 acres, sits off Deaverview Road between Asheville and Leicester, and will be the largest park the county runs once it opens. (Sources: https://www.buncombenc.gov/m/newsflash/home/detail/874, https://wlos.com/news/local/county-approves-139m-contract-with-firm-for-deaverview-mountain-public-park-largest-contract-acquisition-acres-buncombe-county-commissioners-land-conservation-asheville-equinox-environmental-architecture-firm)

A mountain bought without local purchase money

Start with how the county paid for the land. The county closed on Deaverview Mountain on March 19, 2026, and did it with 100 percent grant funding. No local purchase dollars went toward the acquisition itself.

Two grants primarily funded the deal. The county's project page lists a $4,009,648 Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership grant, a federal program, awarded to Buncombe County. Alongside it sits a $4,162,000 grant from the North Carolina Land and Water Fund, awarded to the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy, the nonprofit whose executive director says the group has been talking about protecting this mountain for years.

The county has set aside $7.7 million from its Open Space Bond for costs tied to the broader Deaverview project and plans to chase more grants for development and operations. That distinction matters. Buying a mountain and building a park on it are two separate jobs, and only the first one is finished. (Sources: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/north-carolina-acquired-more-than-342-acres-without-using-local-purchase-money-the-mountain-property-is-now-moving-toward-becoming-buncombe-countys-largest-public-park/articleshow/134303523.cms, https://www.buncombenc.gov/m/newsflash/home/detail/874)

What is actually up there

Deaverview is not a small ridge tucked behind a subdivision. The property tops out at 3,118 feet and has open areas with 180-degree views across the French Broad River Valley, including Asheville itself. County materials say it holds 16 headwater streams, one of which has been identified as a priority for state protection, plus a lot of forest.

A conservation easement covers 315 of the 342 acres, adding another layer of protection as the park is planned. The county has passive recreation in mind: hiking, nature viewing and outdoor education. A network of informal dirt trails already crosses the property, though the public cannot use them yet.

Carl Silverstein, executive director of the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy, put it plainly in the county's announcement. "The ridges surrounding Asheville are dotted with residential subdivisions, but this mountain begs for a different fate," he said. He pointed out that the peak is visible from Bearwallow Mountain, the Biltmore Estate, the airport and the Blue Ridge Parkway. (Sources: https://www.buncombenc.gov/m/newsflash/home/detail/874, https://www.bpr.org/politics-government/2026-09-16/buncombe-commissioners-talk-bear-response-disaster-dollars)

How a private mountain became public land

The path here started in 2023, when a conservation-minded buyer purchased Deaverview Mountain and signed a three-year option agreement with the conservancy. That gave the conservancy and the county time to find a permanent conservation solution and line up the funding to make it happen.

The conservancy's land protection director, Michelle Pugliese, called the closing a chance "to combine conservation and recreation on this beloved mountain to benefit the people of the county, state, region, and beyond." County Parks and Recreation Director Allison Dains described the mountain as "a treasured part of our community," preserved for recreation, environmental education and connection with nature.

Shortly after the March closing, the county issued a request for qualifications for design services. Equinox Environmental won the contract through a competitive procurement process. (Sources: https://www.buncombenc.gov/m/newsflash/home/detail/874, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/north-carolina-acquired-more-than-342-acres-without-using-local-purchase-money-the-mountain-property-is-now-moving-toward-becoming-buncombe-countys-largest-public-park/articleshow/134303523.cms)

What the $1.39 million buys

The Equinox contract covers two phases. Together they include community outreach, environmental and trail assessments, recommendations on future funding, and planning for access, parking, trails, restrooms and viewsheds. A third phase, expected later and not yet under contract, would handle actual construction of trails, access improvements and viewshed amenities.

Dains told commissioners the master plan should be finished next summer, with other documents following in fall 2027. There is a hard deadline behind all of this. The terms of the grants used to buy the property require that it be open to the public by 2029.

For now, the mountain stays closed. The county has been clear that Deaverview will not open to visitors until the infrastructure is in place, so the informal trails up there are still off limits. Community outreach is part of the contract. (Sources: https://wlos.com/news/local/county-approves-139m-contract-with-firm-for-deaverview-mountain-public-park-largest-contract-acquisition-acres-buncombe-county-commissioners-land-conservation-asheville-equinox-environmental-architecture-firm, https://www.bpr.org/politics-government/2026-09-16/buncombe-commissioners-talk-bear-response-disaster-dollars)

The biggest park in the county, with one caveat

County officials have called Deaverview a major step toward the largest park Buncombe runs, and among county-run parks, it will be. The one thing to keep in mind is that the proposed Pisgah View State Park, at roughly 1,600 acres, would be larger if it proceeds as planned. That one is a state park, though, so Deaverview still stands as the county's biggest.

Deaverview was not the only land protection item on the September 15 agenda. Commissioners also approved funding toward a conservation easement on 80 acres of the former Camp Sequoyah property on a tributary of Reems Creek east of Weaverville, and money to begin work on four farmland preservation projects in the Leicester and Sandy Mush area totaling more than 170 acres. Those easements protect the land from future development while allowing many properties to remain privately owned and, where applicable, actively farmed. (Sources: https://wlos.com/news/local/county-approves-139m-contract-with-firm-for-deaverview-mountain-public-park-largest-contract-acquisition-acres-buncombe-county-commissioners-land-conservation-asheville-equinox-environmental-architecture-firm, https://www.bpr.org/politics-government/2026-09-16/buncombe-commissioners-talk-bear-response-disaster-dollars)

The other mountain resident on the agenda

The same meeting brought an update from the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission on bears. Biologist Ashley Hobbs told commissioners that since 2017, Buncombe County has recorded 11 bear-related injuries, more than the rest of the state combined. Bears have gotten into more than 250 homes in the county over that stretch, and Buncombe generates more than a third of all calls to the state's bear hotline.

The cause is not mysterious. Garbage, pet food and bird seed have taught bears to see people as a food source. Hobbs asked the county to push residents toward bear-resistant trash cans, but the numbers show how far there is to go. Of FCC Environmental Services' roughly 40,000 customers in the county, only 2,853 use the bear-resistant bins, which cost $10 a month to lease or $320 to buy.

Commissioners took no formal action, but some said they are hearing more bear complaints and that getting the bins can be difficult. The Board of Commissioners meets next on October 6 at 200 College Street in downtown Asheville. (Source: https://www.bpr.org/politics-government/2026-09-16/buncombe-commissioners-talk-bear-response-disaster-dollars)

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Deaverview Mountain open to the public?

Not yet. Buncombe County says the property will stay closed until park infrastructure is built. The master plan is expected next summer, with other documents following in fall 2027, and the terms of the grants used to buy the land require the park to be open to the public by 2029.

How did Buncombe County pay for Deaverview Mountain?

The purchase was funded entirely with grants, so no local purchase money was spent on the land. The county's project page lists a $4,009,648 Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership grant awarded to the county and a $4,162,000 North Carolina Land and Water Fund grant awarded to the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy. The county has separately set aside $7.7 million from its Open Space Bond for the broader project.