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The North Carolina Mountains

TRAVEL GUIDE

The North Carolina Mountains

TRAVEL GUIDE

Majestic peaks, meadows, shrub-covered balds, and valleys of the Appalachian, Blue Ridge, and Great Smoky Mountains epitomize the western corner of North Carolina. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, national forests, eclectic and sophisticated Asheville, the Biltmore Estate, and the Blue Ridge Parkway are the area's main draws.

Here you can shop, ski, hike, bike, camp, fish, canoe, or just take in the views. The city of Asheville is one of the stops on the counterculture trail, as well as a popular retirement area. Its restaurants regularly make the TV food show circuit, and it has craft breweries on nearly every block. Thanks to their moneyed seasonal residents and long histories as resorts, even smaller towns like Highlands, Cashiers, Flat Rock, and Hendersonville have re... Read More

Majestic peaks, meadows, shrub-covered balds, and valleys of the Appalachian, Blue Ridge, and Great Smoky Mountains epitomize the western corner of North Carolina. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, national forests, eclectic and sophisticated Asheville, the Biltmore Estate, and the Blue Ridge Parkway are the area's main draws.

Here you can shop, ski, hike, bike, camp, fish, canoe, or just take in the views. The city of Asheville is one of the stops on the counterculture trail, as well as a popular retirement area. Its restaurants regularly make the TV food show circuit, and it has craft breweries on nearly every block. Thanks to their moneyed seasonal residents and long histories as resorts, even smaller towns like Highlands, Cashiers, Flat Rock, and Hendersonville have restaurants with daring chefs and professional summer theater. In the High Country, where summer temperatures are as much as 15 degrees cooler than in the lowlands, and where snow skiing is a major draw in winter, affluent retirees and hip young entrepreneurs bring panache to even the most rural areas.

Some of the most important arts and culture movements of the 20th century, including abstract impressionist painting and the Beat movement, had roots just east of Asheville, at Black Mountain College, where in the 1930s to 1950s the notables included famed artists Josef and Anni Albers, Willem and Elaine de Kooning, Robert Rauschenberg, and Robert Motherwell, choreographer and dancer Merce Cunningham, musician John Cage, futurist Buckminster Fuller, architect Walter Gropius, and the writers Charles Olson and Paul Goodman.

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Language

English

Nearby Airports

AVL

Electrical Outlets

120 V/60Hz; Type A plugs have two flat prongs. Type B plugs have the same two flat prongs with a third round prong; together the three form a triangular shape.

Currency

US Dollar

Language

English

Electrical Outlets

120 V/60Hz; Type A plugs have two flat prongs. Type B plugs have the same two flat prongs with a third round prong; together the three form a triangular shape.

Currency

US Dollar

Nearby Airports

AVL

Western North Carolina is a four-season destination. Dates for high season vary from hotel to hotel, but generally it's from Memorial Day through...Read More

Discover the best neighborhoods in The North Carolina Mountains with curated recommendations from our editors.

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Western North Carolina is a four-season destination. Dates for high season vary from hotel to hotel, but generally it's from Memorial Day through...Read More

Discover the best neighborhoods in The North Carolina Mountains with curated recommendations from our editors.

Explore All

Western North Carolina is a four-season destination. Dates for high season vary from hotel to hotel, but generally it's from Memorial Day through...Read More

Discover the best neighborhoods in The North Carolina Mountains with curated recommendations from our editors.

Explore All

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Fodor's The Carolinas & Georgia
Whether you want to drive a scenic road in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, stroll...

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