North Carolina

Western North Carolina is the side of the mountains we keep coming back to: the quiet end of the Smokies, the Blue Ridge Parkway into Asheville, and the gorge country south and east of town with its waterfalls and one very cold rock slide.

The Smokies, North Carolina side

Cherokee, Deep Creek tubing, the elk at Cataloochee, and the lake at the park’s southern edge.

The Oconaluftee River running through downtown Cherokee, North Carolina, seen from the pedestrian bridgeThings to Do in Cherokee NCIndian Creek Falls on the Deep Creek loop trail in the Smoky MountainsDeep Creek Smoky MountainsRolling forested mountain ridgelines under a partly sunny sky in the Cataloochee and Balsam Mountain area of Great Smoky Mountains National ParkCataloochee ValleyFontana Dam seen from downriver in North CarolinaFontana LakeLayered mountain ridgelines along the Blue Ridge ParkwayBlue Ridge Parkway Asheville to Cherokee

Asheville and the Blue Ridge Parkway

Biltmore, the highest peak in the East, and the trail we always do at sunset.

Downtown Asheville, North Carolina, at dusk with the Blue Ridge Mountains behindThings to Do in Asheville, NCThe limestone facade and steep roofs of Biltmore House seen across the front lawn under a blue skyBiltmore EstateMount Mitchell and Mount Craig rising above the Black Mountains, seen from Black Mountains OverlookMount Mitchell State ParkOverlook near Craggy Gardens on the Blue Ridge Parkway with the road winding through the ridgeline belowCraggy Gardens Hiking TrailsBlue Ridge Mountains layered in fog near Asheville, North CarolinaWaterfalls Near Asheville

Hickory Nut Gorge and Pisgah

Chimney Rock, Lake Lure and Sliding Rock.

Chimney Rock, the granite spire above Lake Lure in Hickory Nut Gorge, North CarolinaChimney Rock State ParkPeople sliding down the wet granite of Sliding Rock in Pisgah National Forest, with spectators on the viewing platform aboveSliding Rock, North Carolina

North Carolina road trips

Six days through the mountains, and the big Smokies loop that links both states.

Sunset over the mountains along the Blue Ridge Parkway in western North CarolinaWestern North Carolina Road TripMingus Mill, a historic water-powered grist mill near the Oconaluftee entrance to Great Smoky Mountains National ParkGreat Smoky Mountains Road Trip

Heading south from Asheville? Pretty Place, Oconee State Park and the rest of the Upstate are on our South Carolina page.