The 13 Most Beautiful Spots in North Carolina to Add to Your Bucket List

North Carolina is a unique state since its westernmost region boasts towering Appalachian mountain peaks – the highest being Mount Mitchell at nearly 7,000 feet above sea level – while its eastern coastline dips down to sea level in magical places like the Crystal Coast and the Outer Banks. In between, the Piedmont region houses three of the top 30 universities in the country in Duke, Wake Forest and UNC-Chapel Hill, all with beautiful campuses as their prestige would indicate near city centers that are enjoying a cultural renaissance with a stronger emphasis on the arts, outdoors and strong local creative economies. With all these gifts, picking just 13 most beautiful spots in North Carolina was a challenge indeed, but here are the places you should put on your North Carolina bucket list.

When people hear the term Great Smoky Mountains, they typically associate this majestic part of the country with Tennessee, but in fact, the 522,000-acre park is divided almost equally between it and North Carolina. It’s the country’s most visited national park, so consider a spring or fall visit (avoid jam-packed October, though) for thinner crowds and to see the leaves drenched in color and potential elk sightings.

And last but not least, put Jones Lake State Park on your bucket list…unless you get freaked out by unexplained phenomena. Touted as one of the most unusual landforms in the state, this area is marked by more than 500,000 elliptically shaped depressions that range in size from hundreds of feet to as large as six miles. These strange landforms have launched all sorts of origination theories, from sinkholes to a meteor crash to alien intrusion.