Earthaven Ecovillage Tours
Saturday tours most weeks
Customized Tours available
Near Asheville, NC
Want to get a feel for an ecovillage?
Only have a few hours for a visit?
Join one of our tours! Tours are a great entry point into learning the history, purpose, and development of Earthaven Ecovillage. These tours are designed to provide learners with a deeper understanding about living in community as well as the strategies and solutions possible for doing things another way.
In just a couple of hours, you’ll get a very informative introduction to this 31+ year experimental journey of social, environmental and economic resiliency. You’ll not only learn of things you might want to do, but also what you might NOT want to do.
NEW: Bonus Neighborhood Tours with selected Saturday tours! Meet the residents, see their homes and neighborhood, and hear their stories.
Would you like a tour but can’t make it to Earthaven? Check out our virtual tours. There’s even a recorded tour you can enjoy right now!
If you want to stay overnight, the Earthaven campground is open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights for people taking Saturday tours. For more information about camping and to register for a tour with camping, see the Earthaven Campground page.
After spending many years accumulating knowledge on sustainable, conscious living, it was a true treat to get to see the practices put in place in person. Our guide was insightful, engaging, and welcoming.
Scheduled Saturday Tours
Saturday Tour Cost
$25-35 sliding scale per adult. Kids accompanied by an adult are free.
Saturday Tour Schedule
- August 8* & 22
- September 12 & 26
- October 10, 15 (Thursday 11 A.M.) & 24*
- November 7 & 21
- December 12
Saturday tours start at 10:00 am and last about 2 hours.
*Date(s) with a bonus Gateway neighborhood tour.
Customized Tours
Customized Tour Cost
$180 for up to four adults and teens. $25 for each additional adult or teen. Kids 12 & under are free.
Gateway neighborhood bonus tours
Gateway neighborhood residents offer a tour of their homes and farm after selected Saturday tours. This neighborhood features passive solar homes of all sizes; off-grid solar power systems designed, installed, and maintained by its residents; gardens; and a highly active, small-scale farm demonstrating integrated agriculture with pasture-raised cows, poultry, and annual and perennial plants, forestry.
Gateway neighborhood is located at the entrance of Earthaven, so you can stop by on your way out. You may also bring your lunch to enjoy while meeting the Gateway residents. There’s no additional cost. Please register with your Saturday tour to help our planning.
Gateway tour dates: August 8, October 24.
A powerful and eye-opening experience.
Walking the land, seeing the homes, and hearing how the community has grown made the idea of intentional community feel tangible and real. I could feel it, and it left a deep imprint on me.
What impacted me most was the balance of honesty and inspiration that our guide brought. She shared the real challenges alongside the beauty.
The tour reminded me that while intentional community takes patience, persistence, and compromise, it is possible—and it is happening. It gave me hope, practical knowledge, and a deeper sense of belonging to a larger movement.
Touring with Young Children
While children are a welcome and enriching part of life at Earthaven, our tours are designed for adults. Between the nature of the content and our movement in the village, we’ve found that tours can be quite challenging not only for the families with young children, but also for other tour participants.
Please consider making other arrangements for your young children while you take a tour, such as arranging child care before coming or designating an adult whose priority is to be with and support the children. If you bring them on the tour, keep them close to you and be mindful of their noise and distraction to the tour guide and other tour participants.
Camping
The Earthaven campground is open for the 2026 season. It will remain open through the end of October. For campground info and offsite camping options, see the Earthaven Campground page.
NO Dogs or Other Pets
You will be excused from the land if you bring a pet with you.
We allow service dogs on a case by case basis. Please contact us directly for more details.
Refund and Cancellation Policies
For Customized Tours:
If SOIL cannot schedule a customized tour that meets your requests:
- If the registration was made at least 14 days before the requested tour date, you will receive a 100% refund.
- If the registration was made fewer than 14 days before the requested tour date, there will be a $25 service fee and receive a refund for the balance.
If you need to cancel:
- 90% refund for cancellations prior to 30 days before the tour.
- 50% refund for cancellations prior to 10 days before the tour.
If SOIL cancels the tour, you will have the option to reschedule your tour, change to a virtual tour, or receive a 100% refund. If SOIL denies your registration for any other reason, you will receive a 100% refund.
Beyond these provisions, SOIL has a No Refund Policy on all of our registrations. If you cannot attend the tour, your registration fee can be considered a donation to our nonprofit to support our continued work. Please contact us if you would like a receipt for this donation.
For Regular Saturday Tours:
- 90% refund for cancellations prior to 30 days before the tour.
- 50% refund for cancellations prior to 10 days before the tour.
- 3 or more days before the tour: You may transfer your registration to another person, convert your registration to a virtual tour, or reschedule for a later date.
If SOIL cancels the tour, you will have the option to reschedule your tour, change to a virtual tour, or receive a 100% refund. If SOIL denies your registration, you will receive a 100% refund.
Beyond these provisions, SOIL has a No Refund Policy on all of our registrations. If you cannot attend the tour, your registration fee can be considered a donation to our nonprofit to support our continued work. Please contact us if you would like a receipt for this donation.
Registration for Saturday and Customized Tours
Complete the registration form once for your party of up to six adults with the same schedule. It takes less than 5 minutes, and you will complete your enrollment with a credit card authorization.
After your enrollment is processed in our office, you will receive several email messages…
- An automatic confirmation of receiving your registration form
- A payment confirmation from our card processor
- Additional information from our registrar as the time approaches
Note: To register for a tour with camping, see the Earthaven Campground page.
