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Leave screens behind and embrace wonder! Ride an antique steam train, stay overnight in a tree house, or take it one step at a time across America’s highest suspension footbridge. If you’d rather keep your feet on the ground, try your hand at mining or picking heirloom apples.
Listicle View
Grandfather Mountain
A serpentine drive brings travelers to the Mile High Swinging Bridge, a walkway stretching across a chasm to Linville Peak. Leave your fear of heights in the car to admire the forest draping like a quilt across ridges. Experienced hikers trek the Grandfather Trail, encountering ladders en route to MacRae Peak.
The Orchard at Altapass
Dedicated to preserving Appalachian culture, the 100-year-old orchard grows 25 varieties of heirloom apples. From late July through late October, hayride passengers cling tight as a tractor pulls them over bumpy trails to the trees for U-picking. Savor the fruits on a stroll through the butterfly garden.
Stone Mountain State Park
It took centuries for molten lava to cool and crystallize, forming the massive granite dome of Stone Mountain. From a distant overlook, the bald 600-foot-tall mound looks almost diminutive, but the landmark towers above hikers roaming the park’s 20 miles of trails past waterfalls, lush forest and woodland lakes.
Tweetsie Railroad
The hiss of steam from antique locomotives sends visitors back in time at North Carolina’s first theme park, founded in 1957. Chug through Wild West scenes — and beware of bandits — on a 3-mile train ride around the site. Get your kicks at Diamond Lil’s Can-Can Revue and indulge sweet cravings at Fudge Works.
Yellow House B&B
Find a gnome away from home at Yellow House on Plott Creek Road in Waynesville. Hunting the bed and breakfast’s 5-acre grounds for whimsical garden ornaments is part of the fun, as is a bevy of board games to play. Relax amid ponds, a stream, a waterfall, walking paths and native plants.
Emerald Hollow Mine
Emerald Hollow Mine in Hiddenite is the world’s only public emerald mine and home to the town’s namesake (and rare) pale-to-emerald green mineral.
Lucky Strike Gold and Gem Mine
At Lucky Strike Gold and Gem Mine, an old commercial mining site in Marion, pan for gold in the same stream as 1800s prospectors, or screen a bucket of ore for garnets, amethysts, topaz, rose quartz and other gems.
Sugar Creek Gem Mine
Sugar Creek Gem Mine in Banner Elk offers prefilled buckets of rough gemstones that you take to the flume line, where you’ll sift through sand and rock to find your tiny treasures. The outfitter guarantees you’ll find precious or semiprecious stones on every trip.
Greensboro Science Center
This wonderland includes a museum, aquarium and zoo with plenty of animals to observe, such as leapin’ lemurs. You can imitate the climbing and flying creatures at Skywild, an aerial adventure park towering above the zoo, or get more bird’s-eye views gliding over Lake Sloan on the Flyway zipline.
North Carolina Zoo
From April to October, ride in an open-air safari vehicle on a Zoofari tour of the Watani Grasslands for an up-close look at rhinos, gazelles, antelope and elephants. You can also meet bears, barking tree frogs and hundreds of other creatures at the world’s largest natural habitat zoo.
First Ward Park
Adults can soak up the serenity of this 4.6-acre urban green space in Uptown while kids get soaked by the spray of its fountains. There’s a walking path, fitness equipment, and a large grassy area for playing and picnicking. The park is conveniently close to a light-rail stop.
Bodie Island Lighthouse
The striped 1872 beacon on Cape Hatteras National Seashore still helps ships navigate. A wooden walkway snakes through the lighthouse grounds, an area of grassy freshwater marshes where you can spot waterfowl. From late April through early fall, climb 219 steps to the top of the lighthouse and get rewarded with 360-degree views.
Goose Creek State Park
Thanks to slick engineering, you can wade through a cypress swamp and a freshwater marsh from the comfort of the elevated Palmetto Boardwalk trail. As you explore these waters that feed the park’s namesake creek, see herons, egrets and red-winged blackbirds, plus massive longleaf pines indigenous to the Tar Heel State.
Corolla Beach
This long stretch of oceanfront on The Northern Outer Banks is famous for its wild horses descended from Spanish mustangs brought here more than 400 years ago. If you’re lucky, you might spot one on a stroll — just stay 50 feet away, it’s the law. There are boardwalks and nature trails, too, along with plenty of pristine sand for constructing the finest fortresses.
Cashie River Tree Houses
Cashie River Tree Houses in Windsor offers four houses nestled along the Cashie River. Each home includes an outdoor gathering area with chairs and benches for enjoying fresh air and views. Get a closer look at the river on a kayak or canoe excursion (rentals available) — or go hunting and fishing.
Visit Outdoor NC for additional tips on how to connect with nature and help preserve the natural beauty of our state, then discover more family-approved excursions in The Official 2025 North Carolina Travel Guide.