Welcome to Blue Ridge!
A Mountaintop Experience Awaits!
Welcome to YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly! We can’t wait to host you/your group here on the Mountain. Before your arrival, we’d like to give you an overview of our organization that includes helpful resources for your visit and information about what we do here at the Assembly.
YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly provides positive, life-changing experiences and quality programs and services through well-trained, empowered staff. From arrival to departure, we strive to have a lasting impact on those we serve, embracing Christian hospitality and welcoming all people from all places with caring, honesty, responsibility, and respect.
Our Eureka Moment
Blue Ridge Assembly’s beginnings date back to 1906, when our founder Dr. Willis D. Weatherford set out looking for a place of beauty and inspiration that would support his aims to combine his strong faith with his passion for developing young minds. At the time, Weatherford was the Director of the Student YMCA of the South. His goal was to find a location in the southeast from which YMCA conferences could be hosted, and he began his search in his already beloved Blue Ridge Mountains.
Arriving at the property then known as the “Johnson Tract” in a horse and buggy rented from nearby Asheville, Weatherford and his friend Alexander L. Phillips walked up the mountain. After their hike, Dr. Weatherford climbed a tree to assess the view. Enraptured by what he saw, he exclaimed “Eureka! We have found it!” The two returned to Asheville and the Johnson Tract was purchased for $11,500.
Today, Blue Ridge is an active and inviting partner to any group. Like Dr. Weatherford, our goal is to create relationships and inspire all those who set foot on our campus.
Visiting the Mountain
Sleep
Our Historic/Youth lodging features smaller, budget friendly rooms that are comfortable for youth retreats, young adult groups, and single adult groups looking for simple and affordable housing.
Our hotel style rooms are comfortable, spacious accomodations that are great for adult and family groups of all sizes.
Eat
Join us in our dining room to enjoy healthy and delicious buffet meals with your group.
You’re also invited to visit the Mountaintop Cafe and Gift Shop located just off the Blue Ridge Center lobby for a snack or a drink from Starbucks.
Meet
There is a wide variety of meeting spaces available at YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly. These spaces range from a 16-seat board room to a 700+ seat auditorium.
Blue Ridge can accommodate a wide variety of needs based on the activities your group will be participating in with both indoor and outdoor spaces.
Click the button below to see more information about all of our meeting spaces.
Play
Blue Ridge has one of the largest and most comprehensive challenge course facilities in the country. Challenge courses available to all our groups include the fifty-foot-tall Alpine Tower and Carolina Straight Wall, the dual level Odyssey high ropes course (pictured here) which features team obstacles and a zipline, and an indoor climbing wall and indoor high linear ropes course.
In addition to our guided programming we also offer other recreational activities such as our athletic fields and gymnasiums, hiking trails of various difficulties, and courts for basketball, tennis and volleyball. We also have a disc golf course, exercise room and more.
Building a Brighter Future
YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly is a non-profit organization devoted to the idea that to make any meaningful change in our society we must start by investing in the minds, bodies and spirits of young people.
Children, teens, adults and families have life-changing experiences on the Mountain every year. We strive to make those experiences available to everyone regardless of their financial ability, but we know that there are still some for whom a trip to Blue Ridge is unfeasible.
You can bridge the gap for another visitor today by making a gift. By making even a small donation you can give another child the chance to learn and grow in the beauty of the Mountain.
Thank you for helping us build a brighter future!
