Calling All Nature Seekers: River Mountain Retreat Celebrates Opening Weekend

Your next outdoor adventure awaits! Distanced by nature, River Mountain Retreat’s new lodging and wellness experience is officially open for visitors, explorers, and seekers.

The new cabins are sited at the forest’s edge, where sounds of running water and forest creatures contribute to a restorative environment. Arranged in pairs, each set of cabins shares a common outdoor gathering deck space between them. The orientation of each pair of cabins enables River Mountain to easily accommodate both small and large group gatherings, depending on the programmatic requirements of the guests’ curricula.

In designing the cabins, GWWO Principal Terry Squyres said, “River Mountain’s vision inspired us to create an environment throughout the site and buildings that fosters a restorative relationship with nature. Central to that concept is architecture that is designed to reconnect River Mountain’s guests to their natural circadian rhythms, with a focus on natural daylighting, fresh air, and spaces that support the retreat’s daily routines of adventure and reflection.”

The state-of-the-art accommodations are designed to find harmony with our body's natural circadian rhythm. The predominantly glass eastern façade of the new cabins illuminates the sleeping bunks with the morning rays, waking guests with views toward the bank of Sweet Root Creek and reestablishing a natural circadian rhythm.  At day’s end, darkness establishes a time for rest, when each resident relaxes in their bunk with a personal view of the stars above and the forest’s edge. Large, operable windows also ensure plenty of fresh air.