There is a version of the Highlands–Cashiers experience that is, at its core, about golf. And there is a version that has nothing to do with golf at all. The remarkable thing about this area is that both are completely true, and they coexist with almost no friction.
But for a significant portion of the people who own property on the Plateau — and for many of those who are considering it — the private club ecosystem is central to what makes this place work. Understanding it is essential to understanding the real estate market.
A Constellation of Clubs
The Plateau hosts an extraordinary concentration of private clubs for a community its size. Each has a distinct personality, a distinct history, and a distinct membership culture. A few of the most prominent:
Cullasaja Club sits at elevations reaching nearly 4,400 feet, with a mountain golf course that rewards strategy over length and dining that would hold its own in any major city. The community is known for its privacy, its architectural standards, and its members, who tend to be accomplished, unpretentious, and deeply loyal to the place.
Wade Hampton Golf Club in Cashiers is widely considered one of the finest mountain courses in the world — a Tom Fazio design that uses the terrain with a kind of muscular elegance that lesser designers never achieve. Wade Hampton is famously private and famously good.
Mountaintop Golf & Lake Club combines golf with access to Lake Glenville — one of the highest lakes east of the Rockies — offering a dual-amenity lifestyle that is genuinely rare.
Wildcat Cliffs Country Club, positioned between Highlands and Cashiers, is known for its welcoming culture and its exceptional social programming, including a dining scene that draws members from surrounding communities.
Beyond these, Highlands Country Club, Sapphire Valley Resort, and a range of smaller communities offer access points at various price and membership structures.
What Club Membership Actually Means
The clubs here are not primarily about golf — or rather, golf is the organizing principle around which a broader social life develops. The friendships forged on these fairways and in these dining rooms are frequently the most important social connections people make after relocating to the Plateau. For families, the junior programs, tennis clinics, and summer activities create a structure that makes the transition to a new community far easier.
For buyers evaluating a property inside or adjacent to a private community, it's worth thinking about the club membership not as an amenity but as a relationship — one that, if it fits your temperament, will anchor your life here.
The Non-Club Life
For those who prefer their community less formal, the Plateau also offers exceptional public and semi-private golf options, a thriving arts and dining scene, and outdoor communities organized around hiking, kayaking, fly fishing, and other pursuits that require no membership card at all. The Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust has preserved tens of thousands of acres of mountain land with hundreds of miles of trails accessible to everyone.
The Plateau works for people who want both worlds — and for those who want either one.
