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This Transylvania County city is home to a rare white squirrel population that is descended from an escaped carnival animal.

The scant remains of this flooded historic village can be explored in one of the most remote areas of the Great Smokies.

A mailbox that saved a nature reserve.

A wedding chapel, vintage clothing shop, and bar all under one roof.

This rare basilica nestled right in downtown Asheville is an architectural marvel, inside and out.

This nine-story building can be played like an instrument.

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 scented city oasis was a labor of love.

This vast kitty-themed collection illustrates the history of human-cat interaction.

One of the best places to see wild Colonial Spanish Mustangs in the United States.

A 120-year-old legend concerning an empty circular patch in the North Carolina woods.

A cabin completely covered in coffee mugs, where visitors are welcome to leave one of their own—if they can find an empty nail.

Garden dedicated to native carnivorous plants and site of huge flytrap heist.

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

Who needs fancy modern water slides when this giant North Carolina rock works just as well?

The enormous 250-room Vanderbilt mansion conceals hidden doors and secret passageways.

Gnarled canopies of pink and purple wildflowers arch over the trail to the summit.

This bridge is haunted by the ghost of a distraught mother.

This road in the Great Smoky Mountains was supposed to assuage a displaced community, but ended up a $52 million dead end.

These eerie outliers of the lightning bug family glow a mysterious blue color.

This 250-to 375-year-old live oak tree towers over the back garden of a local history museum.

Both the cocktails and the dive bar vibes are immaculate at this Mid-City watering hole.

The home and birthplace of Caroline Dormon, a naturalist, artist, and the "mother of the Kisatchie National Forest."

Louisiana's tallest waterfall is only a short hike away from the middle of nowhere.