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Overview

The Highlands Plateau Greenway is located in Highlands North Carolina, the highest incorporated town east of the Mississippi. Straddling the Eastern Continental Divide in a temperate rainforest, the area boasts the highest floral and faunal diversity in North America. The forests of oaks, hickories, pines, and firs that shade second-story old-growth rhododendron and mountain laurel surrounding Highlands offer refreshing and striking alternatives to the towns streets and roads for foot travel between points of interest, as well as valuable exercise and companionship for the growing number of volunteers who take pride in quality construction that is so much appreciated by the growing number of walkers and hikers who frequent the trail.  What sets the Highlands Plateau Greenway apart from other trails are these unique environmental features upon which the Greenway's trail system is superimposed, with opportunities for recreation, education on regional and natural history, art, and conservation for the Town's tens of thousands of residents and visitors. The Greenway connects established trail systems within the Town, allowing users to visit sites of special interest without the use of motorized vehicles through tracts owned by Greenway Partners: The Town of Highlands, Highlands Biological Station, Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust, and Bascom Center for the Visual Arts.