History of Spruce Knob Mountain Center

The Spruce Knob Mountain Center (SKMC) is a 400 acre high-elevation nature preserve located in the Potomac Highlands of West Virginia. The Potomac Highlands feature some of the darkest night skies in the Eastern U.S., the highest peak in the state (Spruce Knob), the healthiest streams in the state, extensive Red Spruce and northern hardwood forests, natural springs, and numerous caves.

The Spruce Knob Mountain Center also showcases innovative, sustainable architecture. Our buildings were designed to complement the beauty of the natural landscape, while limiting the use of non-renewable resources in construction and maintenance. The two largest buildings of the center are yurts. They contain a kitchen, dining area, office space, a library, a classroom, and everyone’s favorite room, the aerie (“bubble”).

The yurts at Spruce Knob are patterned after a Mongolian yurts. Yurts are self-supporting structures which began as movable tents with wooden frames, covered by felted wool and canvas. The American-style yurts at SKMC, however, are meant to stay in one place, and are therefore constructed from wood and stone.

Ulan Bator, our larger yurt, was built in the 1970s. Our other large main yurt, Almaty, was constructed in the 1990s. These buildings are named after the capital of Mongolia and the major city in Kazakhstan, respectively. Both yurts were designed by the late Bill Coperthwaite. The aerie, or “bubble” is a small room on the top floor of Ulan Bator, covered with a rounded sky light. It serves as a small group meeting space, meditation area, and reading room. Altai, named after the Golden Mountains in Central Asia, was built in 2022 and is an open-air version of Almaty.

Our dormitories were built in the 1990s. These buildings were constructed using two distinct styles of architecture. One dormitory is a standard wood-framed structure, but the other is constructed of rammed-earth bricks made using local soil. Each dormitory provides bunkhouse-style accommodations with four separate rooms. Dorm rooms sleep five to six people, for a total of approximately forty beds.

The shower house is a short distance from the dormitories. Visitors may follow a path, lighted at night, to modern amenities such as flush toilets and private showers. Alternatively, guests may visit one of our composting toilets, which function without water. In addition to the larger yurts and the dormitories, SKMC has several smaller, one-room yurts, usually used for housing ExL staff. Three yurts are reserved for visiting guests.

Our seasonal staff housing, the “Earth Shelter,” is a passive solar structure built into the hillside. Its original earthen roof was replaced in 2010, but the structure retains its original character. In 2013, solar panels were added to the roof. This building now generates a substantial amount of power.