In the late 1800s, John Collins, a Congregational minister from Connecticut, and other Christian lay leaders came to this cove seeking to establish and maintain a municipality with assembly grounds that would encourage Christian work and living. That purpose has guided the Mountain Retreat Association for over one hundred years and continues to do so. In 2004, the Association signed an agreement with the State of North Carolina to preserve 2,500 acres in the cove, protecting the area's biodiversity and ensuring a place of rest and spiritual renewal for thousands who seek refuge there each year. The cove also includes trails leading to mountain summits, ridges, roads, campgrounds, and valley views, with routes such as Lookout Trail, Rainbow Road, Rainbow Mountain Trail, East Ridge Trail, Hickory Ridge Trail, Buck Gap Trail, Horseshoe Loop Trail, Rocky Head Trail, Stomping Knob Trail, Piney Ridge Trail, West Ridge Trail, Graybeard Trail, Walkers Knob Trail, and Toll Road, including one that passes an old water holding pond used for a hydroelectric plant in the 1920s.