North Carolina

North Carolina is divided into three distinctive regions, coastal or eastern region, piedmont or central region and the mountain or western region. the available cities are listed alphabetically below or by the regional indexes. Each town below is followed by it's regional designation. To see when and where, what festivals and events are happening in your favorite North Carolina City, visit our festival and event centre.
North Carolina, state in the southeastern United States. It is bounded by Virginia on the north, Tennessee on the west, and South Carolina and Georgia on the south. The Atlantic Ocean forms its long irregular eastern boundary. Long an important agricultural state, North Carolina is the nation's leading producer of tobacco. Since the 1920s, however, it has also been a major source of manufactured goods, especially tobacco products, chemicals, textiles, and furniture. Raleigh is the capital of North Carolina. Charlotte is the largest city and the center of the state's most populous metropolitan region.
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Recreation and Places to Visit

North Carolina State Seal Perhaps the best-known scenic attraction is Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which is located astride the North Carolina-Tennessee border. The park’s mountainous terrain and primitive wilderness afford ideal conditions for hiking, fishing, and camping. Western North Carolina’s spectacular mountain panoramas and quiet beauty are accessible from the Blue Ridge Parkway, a scenic highway running from Shenandoah National Park in Virginia to the Great Smoky Mountains. Along the route are beautiful displays of rhododendrons, mountain laurels, and rugged terrain, including Mount Mitchell (2,037 m/6,684 ft), the highest peak in the eastern United States.

A. Other National Areas
A major attraction of the coastal region is the Outer Banks, much of which has been set aside as the Cape Hatteras and Cape Lookout national seashores. The area offers extensive opportunities for seaside recreation. Deep-sea fishing off the Outer Banks is excellent. Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, near the cape, is the tallest lighthouse in North America at 63 m (208 ft). The national seashore also contains one of the state’s three national wildlife refuges—Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge. Also located at Kitty Hawk on the Outer Banks is the Wright Brothers National Memorial, the place where the first motor-powered flight was made in 1903. Fort Raleigh National Historic Site on Roanoke Island commemorates the place where the English first attempted to establish a colony in America. Moore's Creek National Battlefield and Guilford Courthouse National Military Park are sites of important battles of the American Revolution (1775-1783). The home of the poet Carl Sandburg, Connemara, at Flat Rock, is a national historic site.
Pisgah, Nantahala, Uwharrie, and Croatan national forests cover 486,000 hectares (1.2 million acres). Pisgah National Forest lies in the mountains, as does Nantahala National Forest. Because the sun penetrates to the bottom of Nantahala Gorge only in the middle of the day, the Cherokee called it the “Land of the Noon Day Sun,” or “Nantahala.” About 1,600 hectares (4,000 acres) of virgin wilderness forest in the Nantahala National Forest has been set aside as the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest, to memorialize the poet who wrote the poem “Trees.” The Uwharrie National Forest, in the central Piedmont region of the state, is a fairly rugged area of ancient volcanic mountains that have resisted erosion and weathering better than the surrounding countryside. The forest received its name from German settlers, for whom uwharrie meant “new home.” On the coast is the Croatan National Forest, which derived its name from the name of a main town of the Algonquin people that occupied the region when the English arrived in the 1580s.

B. State Parks
There are 63 state parks, of which Kerr Lake State Recreational Area is the largest at 43,246 hectares (106,864 acres); this reservoir area includes nine different parks. Hanging Rock State Park, in the Sauratown Mountains, is well known for its vertical cliffs and rock climbing opportunities. Pettigrew State Park, along the shoreline of Lake Phelps, is located on a former plantation called Somerset Place. Fort Macon, completed in 1834 and fought over during the American Civil War (1861-1865), is a state park near Morehead City. The state has a nature preserve near Southern Pines. Also under state administration are a number of historic sites, among which are Fort Fisher, south of Wilmington, where a museum and remnants of the Civil War earthwork fort commemorate one of the largest amphibious landings prior to the invasion of Normandy in World War II. Tryon Palace Historic Site and Gardens, at New Bern, has been restored to its appearance during colonial times. Town Creek Indian Mounds, near Mount Gilead, is the location of some reconstructed Native American temples. A fine example of a mountain log home is preserved at the Zebulon B. Vance Birthplace State Historic Site near Weaverville, commemorating the man who was governor of North Carolina from 1862 to 1865 and later a United States senator.
The North Carolina Division of Forest Resources operates a system of six Educational State Forests—Clemmons, Holmes, Jordan, Rendezvous Mountain, Turnbull Creek, and Tuttle—as well as several other state forests. The educational forests, the first of which was designated in 1977, are designed to teach the public—especially schoolchildren—about the forest environment.

C. Other Places to Visit
The Biltmore Estate is one of the country’s best examples of the mansions built at the turn of the 20th century by American millionaires. It was designed and built in the early French Renaissance style by George W. Vanderbilt. The birthplace of President Andrew Johnson is in Raleigh, and that of the novelist Thomas Wolfe is in Asheville. In Winston-Salem is Old Salem, a Moravian town founded in 1766. Many 18th-century buildings, including Salem Tavern and Winkler Bakery, are still in use. Automobile races are held annually at speedways in Charlotte, Asheville, Winston-Salem, Hickory, and North Wilkesboro. The USS North Carolina, a World War II battleship, is permanently docked in a berth alongside the Cape Fear River at Wilmington as a war memorial. A former Native American trading post at Murphy is now the Cherokee County Historical Museum, featuring 2,000 exhibits of the Native American lifestyle.

D. Sports
Offshore and freshwater fishing, swimming, hiking, and hunting are popular outdoor activities in North Carolina. The state also has many golf courses. Automobile racetracks are at Charlotte and at Rockingham. Charlotte is the home of the Charlotte Bobcats, a men’s professional basketball team, the Charlotte Sting, a women's professional basketball team, and the Carolina Panthers, a professional football team. Raleigh is home to the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League. The state has a strong tradition of college basketball, especially at schools such as the University of North Carolina and Duke University.

E. Annual Events
Each year, North Carolina has numerous fairs, festivals, and celebrations in addition to those associated with drama and music. Wilmington’s Azalea Festival and the Great Smoky Mountain Trout Festival occur every spring. A wagon train following Daniel Boone’s trail through the Blue Ridge range, and the Highland Games and “Gathering of the Scottish Clans” at Grandfather Mountain, take place in July. Henderson’s Apple Festival, Benson’s Mule Days, and the North Carolina State Fair in Raleigh occur each fall. Each December, at the Wright Brothers Memorial in Kitty Hawk, there is a ceremony honoring their historic flight. Other annual events include boat races on the lakes and coastal waters and fishing tournaments in the Atlantic Ocean.

    The site of an early attempted English settlement in the 1580s, North Carolina has played a significant role throughout US history. North Carolinians were leaders in the American Revolution (1775-1783) and, through the Battle of Guilford Courthouse, contributed significantly to the ultimate American victory. North Carolina joined the Union on November 21, 1789, as the 12th of the original 13 states. Although hesitant to join the Union in 1789, they were equally reluctant to leave it during the American Civil War (1861-1865). However, once they joined the Confederacy, they gave wholeheartedly of North Carolina's men and wealth. The state has been a pacesetter in internal improvements and public education.
    From a high sand dune called Kill Devil Hills, located near Kitty Hawk on North Carolina's Outer Banks, Wilbur and Orville Wright made the first successful airplane flights in 1903.
    North Carolina's name is derived from the Latin word Carolinus, meaning "of Charles." The state was named in honor of King Charles I and King Charles II of England by their friends and supporters who were establishing colonies in the southern part of the Virginia colony.
    The state is nicknamed the "Tar Heel State." While time has obscured the source of the name, some historians believe it refers to one of the state's major colonial era products, pine tar, which was derived from slowly burning the stumps of longleaf pine trees. More commonly accepted is that the name came about during the Civil War. Some say the name may have originally been used derisively, applied to North Carolina soldiers who could not hold a position against Union troops because they had forgotten to "tar their heels" and thus could not stick to their ground. Others contend the name was applied to North Carolina troops by Confederate leaders as a tribute to their sticking quality during battle. The state, once the northern part of the original Carolina colony, is also referred to as the "Old North State."

North Carolina Cities with Hotels