With spectacular views and invigorating adventures, national parks attract millions of visitors every year. If you’re one of those visitors and love the outdoors, you’ll be happy to know there are communities that border our national parks, giving homeowners easy access to activities like hiking, camping and whitewater rafting.
For example, Balsam Mountain Preserve in western North Carolina is surrounded by the Nantahala National Forest, the Pisgah National Forest and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Residents in this luxury community enjoy 34 miles of hiking trails, an onsite campground and nature center, as well as easy access to the three national parks. Homesites average two acres, and prices range from the $600,000s to over $3 million.
If you’re more of a northeasterner, Meredith Bay in New Hampshire is another incredible place to live (and even has an on-property sugar shack to make maple syrup!). The luxury community offers easy access to Lake Winnipesaukee, the White Mountain National Forest and Mount Washington.
And if the southwest is more your style, Quail Run, located at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo mountains in Santa Fe, New Mexico, is for you. The community has a golf course, spa and gourmet restaurant, as well as the mountains and access to 103 acres of high desert.