Cattail Peak sits in the Black Mountains, just north of the highest mountain in the Eastern United States – Mount Mitchell. The mountains of the Southern Appalachians are the highest in the east and are home to rare natural communities, like grassy balds and spruce-fir forests, that are in turn home to rare species like the rock-gnome lichen, one of two lichens on the federal endangered species list, and the endangered Carolina northern flying squirrel. Highland Brewing has developed a reputation for naming seasonal beers after prominent area mountain peaks, and now this local company is going to deepen its commitment to those mountains.