East Asheville and Haw Creek: homes, schools, parks, commute

Last checked Oct. 11, 2026. Sources: the City of Asheville’s neighborhood plans (the East area map and the Haw Creek plan on a page), Buncombe County’s school district map layer, the N.C. Department of Public Instruction’s 2025-26 accountability data, the U.S. Census Bureau’s geocoder, OpenStreetMap and Zillow Research.

East Asheville runs east from Beaucatcher Mountain along Tunnel Road (U.S. 70), past the Asheville Mall, with the Haw Creek valley rising to the north. The city’s East area map lists four neighborhoods with plans: Haw Creek, Redwood Forest, Beverly Hills and Parkway Forest. Homes range from mid-century houses on wooded lots to apartments near Tunnel Road. It is ZIP code 28805, and all of it is in Buncombe County Schools, zoned for A.C. Reynolds High.

What this means for you

• Zoned high school: A.C. Reynolds High, 66.4% of state tests at grade level in 2025-26 and a four-year graduation rate above 95%.
• Home value: $441,672 in ZIP code 28805 in August 2026, according to the Zillow Home Value Index.
• Nearest interstate exit: I-240 Exit 6 at Chunns Cove Road and Tunnel Road, about 1.1 miles by road from Tunnel Road at the Asheville Mall; Exit 7 is U.S. 70.

Part of our Asheville neighborhoods guide.

Where it is

The Haw Creek Community Association’s plan on a page places Haw Creek “in a beautiful valley in East Asheville,” with boundaries along “US Highway 70/Tunnel Road at I-240 ending at Groce Methodist Church on Tunnel Road,” and “over 7,000 households, including affordable apartments, single family, townhomes and condos.” It says the valley’s two main roads, New Haw Creek Road and Old Haw Creek Road, have no sidewalks. South of Tunnel Road are Beverly Hills, Parkway Forest and the Asheville Municipal Golf Course.

City or county? Seven of the 11 East Asheville points we checked were inside the city limits on the Census Bureau’s geocoder, including Beverly Hills, Parkway Forest, Redwood Village, Mountainbrook, Rolling Green and Tunnel Road at the mall. Four, near Haw Creek Elementary, on New Haw Creek Road, in Happy Valley and in Swannanoa Hills, were in unincorporated Buncombe County, which pays no city tax. See our property tax guide.

Schools

East Asheville is in Buncombe County Schools, so homes here do not pay the Asheville City Schools supplement. On Buncombe County’s school district map layer:

• Haw Creek Elementary zone: points in Beverly Hills, Redwood Village, Mountainbrook, Happy Valley, Rolling Green, OpenStreetMap’s Haw Creek marker, near Haw Creek Elementary and on Tunnel Road at the mall.
• Bell Elementary zone: points in Parkway Forest, Swannanoa Hills and farther out New Haw Creek Road.
• Both zones feed A.C. Reynolds Middle and A.C. Reynolds High.

Scores are the share of state tests at grade level or above in 2025-26 and the state’s growth rating, from the accountability data.

Buncombe County Schools is at 828-232-4160. More in our schools guide.

Home values

Zillow publishes no figure for East Asheville alone. The Zillow Home Value Index is a modeled typical value for the middle third of homes, not a sale price.

Trends are on our home prices page.

Parks and trails

From the city’s park finder:

• Haw Creek Park, 40 Avon Road, with a looped heritage trail, picnic shelter and swings; the trail is the first link of a planned Haw Creek Greenway.
• Masters Park, 101 Maple Drive, a nine-acre natural area with an unpaved trail connecting to the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Mountains-to-Sea Trail.
• Ann Patton Joyce Park, 30 Hawthorne Drive, in Beverly Hills.
• Asheville Municipal Golf Course, 226 Fairway Drive, an 18-hole course designed by Donald Ross in the 1920s and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
• Azalea Park, 498 Azalea Road: its dog park is closed after Helene, but the pond is open. The nearby John B. Lewis Soccer Complex and Recreation Park are closed.

More in our parks and trails guide.

Getting around

• I-240: Exit 6 at Chunns Cove Road and Tunnel Road is about 1.1 miles by road from Tunnel Road at the Asheville Mall; Exit 7 is U.S. 70.
• I-40: Exit 55, signed for East Asheville and the VA Hospital, is about 5 miles east.
• Downtown Asheville: about 3.1 miles by road from the mall and 4.8 miles from Haw Creek Elementary.
• Asheville Regional Airport: about 14 miles by road.
• Buses: ART’s WE1 runs from the ART Station to the Asheville Mall and the VA Hospital, the 170 along U.S. 70 to Swannanoa and Black Mountain, and the S2 along Tunnel Road toward Kenilworth, on the city’s maps and schedules page.

Distances were measured with the OSRM routing engine on OpenStreetMap roads. They are distances, not drive times. More in our getting around guide.

Groceries and everyday stores

From OpenStreetMap:

• Ingles, 1141 Tunnel Road, and another Ingles at 29 Tunnel Road
• Whole Foods Market, 4 S. Tunnel Road
• Pharmacies: Walgreens, 91 S. Tunnel Road; Asheville Mountain Pharmacy, 1272 Tunnel Road
• The Asheville Mall on Tunnel Road, an ART stop on the WE1 route

Frequently asked questions

What high school is East Asheville zoned for?

A.C. Reynolds High, in Buncombe County Schools. All 11 East Asheville points we checked were zoned for Reynolds Middle and Reynolds High, with Haw Creek Elementary or Bell Elementary depending on the street.

Is Haw Creek in the Asheville city limits?

Partly. Points we checked at OpenStreetMap’s Haw Creek marker and in Rolling Green and Mountainbrook were inside the city; points farther up the valley, near Haw Creek Elementary, New Haw Creek Road and Happy Valley, were in unincorporated Buncombe County on the Census Bureau’s geocoder.

What ZIP code is East Asheville?

28805. Zillow’s typical home value for ZIP code 28805 was $441,672 in August 2026, down 5.9% in a year, the largest drop among Asheville’s main ZIP codes.

Where is Haw Creek Park?

At 40 Avon Road. The city park has a looped heritage trail, a picnic shelter and swings, and is the first link of a planned Haw Creek Greenway.