News & Updates
Gardening Corner
Fall is the gardener’s season of gathering in. As the garden slows, the plants hand us their next generation, and a little care now means a spring full of new plants....
Letter from Executive Director Kelly Holdbrooks
Dear Friends, Autumn arrives early at elevation. The ridgelines are turning, the meadows are softening into gold, and the first crisp mornings have settled over Toxaway...
Letter from Our Executive Director – July 2026
Dear Friends of Southern Highlands Reserve, Summer on the mountain feels like a deep exhale. After the anticipatory energy of spring — the unfurling, the first...
Women Shaping Conservation
We are proud to shine a light on something we believe is worth celebrating: the women who are doing the hands-on, boots-in-the-soil, data-in-the-spreadsheet work of...
Gardening Corner – Summer 2026
Summer in Western North Carolina is the season for which we garden. Long days, afternoon thunderstorms, cool nights at elevation — it is, in every respect, the best...
A New Vision: SHR Partners with Nelson Byrd Woltz on Updated Master Plan
Southern Highlands Reserve is proud to be working with Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects (NBW) — one of the most celebrated...
Programming for Children: Nature Play Day
Building on the success of last year's Nature Play Day, we recently partnered with the Lake Toxaway Nature Park to offer a special event for children and their...
Nature Sketchbook Journaling Workshops
September 4 & September 24 · 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM Southern Highlands Reserve is partnering with a local artist to offer two Nature Sketchbook Journaling workshops...
The Community Native Plant Sale is Friday, July 31st!
Save the Date! Friday, July 31st, 2026, from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM We are excited to announce that the Community Native Plant Sale is back at Southern Highlands Reserve...