Places Pappi D Wants to Go

Waterfalls, rapids, and top-notch swimming spots await in this densely forested corner of the Smokies.

Mysterious ancient boulder carved with petroglyphs in the mountains of Western North Carolina.

The writing studio of an American adventure author, built in the style of a medieval castle.

They call this long foot bridge a swinging bridge, but really it's the bouncing you have to watch out for.

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

This lovely burial mound is actually a replica that was installed after archeologists excavated the original.

An abandoned bait shop with a front lot filled with storage boxes.

Abandoned for 60 years, this submerged bridge was completely forgotten until the lake was drained.

This museum pays tribute to the Cherokee leader who created a written language for his people.

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

One man has spent decades faithfully constructing this unique brick and cinderblock castle.

A museum and doll store featuring a surreal and super sanitized version of where babies come from.

Where you can experience the story of Appalachia, as told by Appalachians.

This hillside mushroom farm shares land with a Buddhist monastery.

Enormous lake at the bottom of a unique cave system.

Mile-long cave system near Great Smoky Mountains.

In one of America’s oldest mountain ranges, a long-awaited section of a scenic highway is now open to the public.

Visit the art studio of an early 20th-century painter, hidden amid the Great Smoky Mountains.

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

One of the last remaining pedestrian suspension bridges in North Carolina.

The remains of the iconic train crash from the movie 'The Fugitive' can still be found rusting along the Great Smoky Railroad.

A curious whirlpool formation supposedly capable of entangling or engulfing branches, tree trunks, or whole rafts full of hapless tourists.

One man’s religious convictions led him to build this stone castle meant to withstand an apocalypse.

Cherokee alphabet, proof of ancient North American Jews, or just a hoax?