Beech Mountain is a town in both Avery and Watauga counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. At the 2020 census, the town population was 675. The town is located atop Beech Mountain and is the highest town east of the Rocky Mountains at 5,506 ft (1,678 m) in elevation. The nearest municipality at a higher elevation is Des Moines, New Mexico, some 1,220 miles away.