
Wunderland Resort
Clip: Season 24 Episode 1 | 6m 43sVideo has Closed Captions
Unplug and recharge at Wunderland, an eco-adventure resort in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Luxury glamping meets outdoor adventure and wellness at Wunderland Resort. Explore forest trails, unwind with a sauna or cold plunge, gather around a fire and discover a nature-focused retreat designed for rest, connection and play.
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North Carolina Weekend is a local public television program presented by PBS NC

Wunderland Resort
Clip: Season 24 Episode 1 | 6m 43sVideo has Closed Captions
Luxury glamping meets outdoor adventure and wellness at Wunderland Resort. Explore forest trails, unwind with a sauna or cold plunge, gather around a fire and discover a nature-focused retreat designed for rest, connection and play.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipNext, we're heading to Old Fort, where Wunderland Resort combines a unique stay with outdoor adventure.
Set against the Pisgah National Forest, guests can go glamping in the woods, hit the trails, or unwind with one of their nature-focused wellness experiences.
(birds chirping) - Wunderland is a place where people come and reconnect at its most simple level, whether it be through, like, into nature.
Intentional spaces designed to allow people to create more meaningful, deeper conversations, connect deeply with the ones they're with.
I'm Sean Verbrugge, the founder of Wunderland Resort.
We're here in Old Fort.
This is 35 acres.
It's got this beautiful open area, and then it's got all this really cool, diverse forest here.
We're bringing sustainability into this industry.
We have adventure all around us, outside of us.
Pisgah Forest is right there.
200,000 acres of untouched forest.
And then we've got plenty of experiential adventure stuff on the site.
(dramatic music) - We have the ability to escape in your own little way, and then also come out here and reconnect with yourself.
Really, our biggest three pillars are experience, connectivity, and sustainability.
And the wellness area, this community area, really brings a lot of that experience and connection.
So it allows you to escape into nature and reconnect with yourself.
(dramatic music) So we have the wellness area.
We have the fire pit and the nest, and those really allow for everyone to connect with one another.
And we have really cool games.
People have bonfires, and it really allows that playfulness.
We also really encourage people when they first get here to go to our soul trail, which is in the back of the property.
It's about a little less than a mile loop.
It's very private.
The wellness area that has a cold plunge, an eight-person sauna, a swimmable pond.
And then we have our nest that has the ability to bring people together.
We also do community events that is really cool that people get to experience when we've had yoga events, music events, all different types of things.
And then just the area we're surrounded by, we have the ability to point people in the direction of mountain biking, hiking, swimming hole streams.
Everything that Western North Carolina screams is really in our backyard.
(dramatic music) - My background is sustainability.
I thought long and hard about how we can bring sustainability into this industry.
Not only play all the parts of it, but maybe teach people what's possible.
So from the builds, we do like a clean, healthy build.
And then also just like the entire grounds, we only chopped down five trees.
We positioned all of our units, everything to work with nature.
(dramatic music) - I think there's just something really special about this valley and the combination of the really artistic buildings that we have.
And it's just, it's very Zen.
And then we have the Garden of the Gods, which I built.
We've got a lot of great areas, like the social spa area with the sauna and the fire pit over here.
And of course, swimming in the pond.
It's just, it feels like it's a wonderful place for circles of people just to get reconnected with each other.
(light guitar music) (water splashing) - There's a little bit of art and culture and like experiential design.
Our villas, but it's the Yogi and the Creator Villa.
So each of these villas has a, what we call a journey.
And you can think of a journey like, basically like a mini retreat.
You could come here and dial into the journey of that theme.
And so for instance, Yogi, the theme is, it introduces you to the sutras of yoga.
Which are designed to really just lift the distractions of life.
So allow you to be present.
And so you could go on that journey, reading some sacred texts to breath work or meditation or something like that.
And then for the creator, you have references to like the artist's way and some amazing books that allow people to get through blockages and inspire people.
And so it is very intentional to take people on a journey.
- Well, for me, it's a place to come when I need space from the world and to go more on to my internal self and reconnect with myself.
I've done personal retreats here and I really just enjoy the ability to be outside, reconnect with nature, but also take time to journal, to just sit and be.
And in our busy lives, it's really hard to be able to find time to do that consistently.
So I love this place.
It's very special in terms of having a lot of magic to come along with reconnecting to yourself.
- The other day I was actually, I woke up in the morning and I was actually walking along the pond and I noticed a little box turtle floating on the top of the water, eating the grass that was along the edge.
But then, you just take another walk in various different places at Wunderland and you can connect better to nature.
But it's also convenient to Old Fort.
And Old Fort, there's a lot of really cool places to go.
And it seems that people are coming from up the mountain in Black Mountain and Asheville into Old Fort.
So just being close to everything, plus being able to come back here and just decompress, I think that's what makes it kind of special.
- Mostly I want people to leave here and feel inspired and take something home with them that makes whatever they do more exciting, more, they're more passionate about it.
They figure out new nuances to add to their life.
You feel different when you're done.
- Wunderland Resort is located at 448 Curtis Creek Road in Old Fort.
The resort offers forest villas, glamping pods, and tent and vehicle campsites, along with a variety of outdoor and wellness experiences.
Reservations can be made online or you can call 828-419-4632 for more information.
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