Valle Crucis trip planner

Valle Crucis in an unincorporated community located in Watauga County, North Carolina, United States. The name of the town is Latin for "Vale of the Cross," a reference to a valley in the area where three streams converge to form a shape similar to an archbishop's cross. The community is located along NC 194, between the towns of Banner Elk and Boone.HistoryBefore the 1840s, there has been scattered settlements in the area but not permanently until the Valle Crucis Episcopal Mission was established. Founded by Levi Silliman Ives, an Episcopal missionary, "Easter Chapel" served as the first Episcopal church in the area. Its successor, the Holy Cross Episcopal Church, was built in 1926 and modeled on a now-defunct medieval monastery in Wales and is noteworthy for its architecture.Geography and climateValle Crucis is located at the banks of Dutch Creek and Watauga River, at an elevation of 3,333ft above sea level. To its north and east is Tester Mountain and to its south and west is Valle Mountain. The community is also within the Pisgah National Forest boundary, which limits some development in the area.