Considered by many to be the oldest hills in the world, the Blue Ridge Mountains have beckoned the adventurous for centuries.

The area was first settled by the Cherokee Indians, who lived along the fertile river banks of the "Long Man" or French Broad – one of the world’s oldest rivers - which flows northward through the region.

Years later, the nation’s first government granted the surrounding land to veterans of the Revolutionary War.  Immigrants from Scotland and Ireland were drawn to the area – now known as Madison County – since its rugged mountain beauty reminded them of the homelands they left behind. 

The historic town of Marshall, which is now the county seat, was an important stop on the famed Buncombe Turnpike, a major west-to-east route for livestock drovers and other traders that stretched from South Carolina to Tennessee.

Originally settled in the 1800s, the land that is now The Preserve at Little Pine was used to grow tobacco, apples and raise livestock. Today, almost 80% of this historic land is protected for eternity through conservation efforts, allowing residents of The Preserve at Little Pine to feel as though they live in their own national park.