William Black Lodge in Montreat, NC October 2-5, 2025
Our 2024 Roots & Branches Retreat was canceled due to Hurricane Helene. We were sad to miss this chance to be together, and this makes us all the more eager to gather in the fall of 2025.
Registration information and weekend schedule below.
We hope to see you in these beautiful Carolina mountains in the Fall.
What to Expect
Hello friends!
Roots & Branches ‘25 is going to be a fun and restorative event with a new line-up of leadership, friends and of course, David LaMotte! The biggest feedback we have received from folks who have attended earlier retreats is that they wished they were longer, so we’ve added an optional pre-retreat retreat, which is to say an extra day if you’d like to come in on Thursday instead of Friday.
Our 2024 retreat was sadly canceled due to Hurricane Helene. Our scheduled leadership for that retreat included our host David LaMotte, Yara Allen, Billy Jonas, David Wilcox, Aditi Sethi & Jay Brown, Michele Brigante, Jason Nanz, Kiran Singh Sirah, and our fabulous photographer, Herb Way. We are hopeful that many of those leaders will join us this year, as well.
Our home for 2025 will again be the William Black Lodge in Montreat, NC. Not only do we have this beautiful lodge to call our own but we’ll also be attending a show in the newly renovated White Horse Black Mountain venue located in downtown Black Mountain with David and friends on Saturday evening.
At the lodge, we are planning enriching workshops, concerts, activities, and song and story sharing, as well as movement with morning yoga each day led by Michele Brigante, and a Saturday afternoon hike with Jason Nanz, Wilderness Director of the Montreat Conference Center. All of this is still coming into focus, but this will be the flavor of the time together. If what you really need, though, is to sleep in, or read a book, or have a great conversation on the porch, or some alone time, none of the offerings at the retreat are compulsory. We encourage you to take care of yourself while you’re here, and find what you need to sustain your own heart, mind, body, and spirit, as well as caring for the people around you.
This retreat is about connection, creativity, rest, renewal, and holding space for each other’s stories, in a particularly challenging time for our nation and world. We sincerely hope you can join us.
Registering for Roots & Branches ’25
Program costs are as follows. Click below to register!
PLEASE NOTE: Lodging must be booked separately, though all meals are included in your conference registration. Accommodation information is below.
- Program Option 1 (weekend retreat) — $595. All meals included in the program fee.
- Program Option 2 (weekend retreat plus extra day) — $695. All meals included in the program fee.
Program Option 1 is for the weekend Roots & Branches Retreat. It kicks off Friday afternoon with our Welcome Meeting and Porch Circle followed by dinner at the Lodge.
Program Option 2 is in response to your request for an extra day! We wanted to offer the opportunity for folks who are able to arrive Thursday afternoon rather than Friday, for some extra time to decompress and enjoy some time in the mountains hanging out with David and others. There will be programming in this first 24 hours, but it will be held lightly, with an emphasis on relaxing together.
Roots and Branches Retreat 2025
$595.00 – $695.00
Lodging (Booked Separately)
William Black Lodge
David’s 2025 Roots & Branches Retreat will take place at William Black Lodge, located in the history-rich community of Montreat, NC. You can choose to have a private room or a shared room at the lodge. You also have the option of commuting if you plan to stay off-site or if you are local.
The rates with the lodge are hard to beat, so book early because we do have a limited capacity. Please note, the lodge does not have an elevator so if stairs are not your favorite be sure to book a room on the first floor.
If you are coming to the retreat with a friend or partner, please provide their name when you register. If you would prefer a shared room but are not planning to attend with someone you know, we will try to pair you with a compatible roomie and you can make a new friend.
How to Book Your Room
To register for a room at William Black Lodge, simply go to https://williamblacklodge.org/index.html and select “Reservations”. Use the code TWODAVIDS to gain access to registration.
Below is a snapshot of what lodging will cost you. A $50 deposit is required at the time of your reservation for each room booked or you can pay in full.
Retreat Program Option 1 — Friday through Sunday
- Private Room, Fri – Sun – $190 + tax
- Shared Room, Fri – Sun – $140 + tax
Retreat Program Option 2 — Thursday through Sunday
- Private Room, Thurs – Sun – $285 + tax
- Shared Room, Thurs – Sun – $210 + tax
Since your meals are built into your program fee when you register for Roots and Branches above, they are not part of your lodging costs. So if you plan to stay elsewhere or you are local, you are still covered for food! All meals will be provided at the lodge from Thursday (if coming early) or Friday dinner to Sunday brunch.
What if the lodge sells out?
If the lodge gets fully booked, there’s no shortage of great places to stay in the Montreat/Black Mountain area and we’ve provided some links below to other nearby lodging options.
Alternative Accommodations:
- Monte Vista Hotel – 2.6 miles away in Black Mountain (driving, rather than walking)
- Assembly Inn (groups preferred, rather than individuals) – right next door!
- Georgia Lodge (must book entire lodge, 10 rooms with a capacity of up to 28 people) – .3 mile walking distance
- Accommodations via the Black Mountain & Swannanoa Chamber of Commerce
TWO DAVIDS?
We are excited to share that both David LaMotte AND David Wilcox are hosting retreats at William Black Lodge in Montreat and the weekends are back to back! We encourage you to look into David Wilcox’s retreat, as well, if you are so inclined, and you can spend the week in between exploring and enjoying Western North Carolina.
Partial Scholarships
The distribution of money in our society has little to do with our value to a community. If you feel led to be here, but the registration fee is beyond your ability to pay at present, please contact us to discuss your needs (before registering) and we will try to work with you to look for a way to make the retreat possible via payment plans, partial scholarship, or other creative solutions. And if you are able to contribute more to enable us to share this experience with anyone regardless of ability to pay, we welcome and are grateful for your extra contribution. Decisions about scholarships will be made late in the summer.
Cancellation Policy
There is a $50 non-refundable administration fee incurred at the time of registration for Roots and Branches ‘24. If you cancel prior to Sept 19th, your registration fee minus this $50 fee will be refunded. Please note, the cancellation policy for the lodge will also be in place and is separate from our policy for Roots & Branches ‘24.
Thanks for taking a look. We hope you can join us!