Lutherock Outdoor School Newland, NC
Bring your class to the mountain. At Lutherock, students learn in a mountain creek, on the trail and on the rock face, with naturalists from Grandfather Mountain and a camp staff who plan every day around what you’re teaching.
Plan your group’s trip.
Every school week here is built with its teachers. Start with what we do, or call and we’ll start together.
Call 828-209-6328
The classroom is outside.
High in the North Carolina mountains, the lesson is never far from the cabin door. Students wade a mountain creek to see what lives under the stones, hike trails under the hemlocks, and find out what they can do halfway up a rock face.
Tell us your grade and what your class is studying, and we’ll shape the days around it. Evenings belong to the whole group: games, a campfire and a lot of stars.
On a spring hike at Lutherock.
A week on the mountain.
Here’s one way five days can go. Many groups stay a shorter time, and every schedule is planned with you before you arrive.
Monday: settle in.
Arrive in the afternoon, find your cabins and meet the staff. After dinner, a round of games turns a class into a group, and the night ends with s’mores around the fire.
Tuesday: go underground.
Helmets on and headlamps lit for a day in a cave across the Tennessee line. Back at camp: dinner, then the campfire.
Wednesday: rock and tower.
Hike to Cross Rock for a morning of climbing on real rock, then take on the Alpine Tower in the afternoon with the whole class cheering from below.
Thursday: Grandfather Mountain.
A day with Grandfather Mountain’s naturalists: the animal habitats, the Mile High Swinging Bridge and the museum. Back at camp, a live wildlife presentation from Lees-McRae College’s May Wildlife Center.
Friday: home again.
One more breakfast together, one last look across the valley, and the bus home by late morning.
More to fit in.
On site
- Rock climbing
- Zip line
- High ropes
- Alpine Tower
- Creek walk
- Nature hike
- Team challenge course
- Camping out
Off site, planned with you
- Caving
- Whitewater rafting
- Mountain biking
- Appalachian Trail hike
- Skiing or snowboarding
A live hawk at a wildlife presentation.
Learning partners.
Lutherock brings the mountain. Our partners bring the experts.
Grandfather Mountain’s naturalists
Grandfather Mountain’s naturalist team teaches at camp and on the mountain itself, with lessons that follow your curriculum or simply follow your students’ curiosity.
Lees-McRae College’s May Wildlife Center
Wildlife educators from Lees-McRae bring live animals to camp, so your students can meet them up close.
At the start of the 2023–24 school year, every sixth grader and teacher in Avery County spent a day at Lutherock, building the team they’d carry into middle school.