This funicular railway rumbles along for a mile up the nearly vertical face of Chattanooga’s Lookout Mountain.

An abandoned town is hidden in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The hotel where Martin Luther King Jr. was shot is now a museum dedicated to his work.

More than five miles of underground passageways.

The mysterious wonder of an underground waterfall is illuminated by multicolored lights.

Enormous lake at the bottom of a unique cave system.

Elevated freight railway turned wildly successful urban park.

This high point in the Great Smoky Mountains is said to be home to the chief of all bears.

The highest point in North Carolina and the United States east of the Mississippi River, Mount Mitchell is named after argumentative explorer Elisha Mitchell.

This kitschy tavern is also home to rare early editions of "Treasure Island."

This massive store is home to an eccentric collection of vintage, retro, and peculiar goods.

A 315-foot spire jutting out from the Blue Ridge Mountains makes for breathtaking views.

This giant iron playfully pays tribute to an early 20th-century architectural trend.

Every week, a festive public jam session breaks out in downtown Asheville.

The world's longest known cave system.

A former 19th-century tavern, famous for its peach brandy and honey concoction.

One of the few surviving "Wigwam"-themed motels.

Prehistoric animals decorate this popular outdoor park.

A local scoured more than 1,000 acres for stone to create his masterpiece.

Once one of the most polluted caves in America, now an environmental success story and a museum dedicated to caves.

One of the world's largest automobile junkyards is a unique landscape of metal and moss.

Formerly known as National D-Day Museum, this collection commemorates the battles of Normandy and WWII.

Once the site of a Native American harvest festival, this humble clearing later played an invaluable role in the birth of jazz.

In 2010, Nicolas Cage purchased two plots in this cemetery using one to construct this strange pyramid mausoleum.