North Carolina - what to see - this time of the year?

Hi,

I know this is a very open ended question - My wife, kids and I will be in Charlotte, NC all of next week and would like to see some places in and around that area (day trips preferred). Our interests are: Landscapes, Waterfalls, cityscapes and History. Any recommendations? How is the GSM NP and Blue Ridge parkway this time of the year?

Thanks in advance,
Shesh

You'll be a couple of weeks late for fall colors, but BlueRidge PKWay will be nice.
You can also plan a trip to ASHEVILLE or the Bridal-Veil falls

There is also the train museum (about 1h away from charlotte) that can be fun

Asheboro (pottery town) where artists are making pottery for you to see and they usually let you take pictures

You should look for a Waterfall Walks book, I found mine at the gift shop at Anna Ruby Falls, see at this link: http://www.waterfallwalks.com/If you can get out to the Transylvania County area or to the Highlands/ Franklin area theres loads of waterfalls everywhere.

Hey--here's a link to the state tourism site, there should be some good info here--especially about road closings (if they're still closed) up on the Parkway. You can also probably find info on the scenic byways on here as well (Travel & Tourism used to have a nice little book they gave out with the backroads maps):

Dead Link Removed

There are alot of museums and historic sites around Charlotte--offhand the 2 State Historic Sites I'd recommend would be Reed Goldmine which is about a half hour Northeast of Charlotte (near Albemarle).

http://www.ah.dcr.state.nc.us/sections/hs/reed/reed.htm


In Salisbury you'll find the NC Transportation Museum--aka Spencer Shops. This is a fantastic site, especially for pictures of old industrial stuff. Here's a link to that:

http://www.ah.dcr.state.nc.us/sections/hs/spencer/spencer.htm

There are some state parks that would be closer than the Parkway, which is still closed in some sections. Kings Mtn Nat'l Park is just southwest of Charlotte over the state line into SC. Near Gastonia, NC. There's also Crowder's Mtn nearby as well.

As for museums--Charlotte has quite a few. Discovery Place is a great hands-on science museum downtown. The Museum of the New South is very close as well. There's also a community darkroom organization in Charlotte, The Light Factory.

http://www.lightfactory.org/


The pottery is done in Seagrove--which is in Randolph County. There's an area spread out quite a bit, but the core of it is around what is known as "Jugtown"--the Owens family. You'll find all this around Seagrove, along with the NC Pottery Museum. It could be a day trip, but it's more of a 2 hr drive or so from Charlotte. There's a great backroads route to Seagrove from Charlotte though--that winds along old country roads through some pretty deserted parts of the state--skirting through old closed up towns, and the border of the area that the Special Forces use for training now near the Uwharrie Forest. It's a very pretty part of the state....

Oh well--if I think of anything else I'll post it.

KT

here's the scenic byways guide:

http://www.doh.dot.state.nc.us/operations/dp_chief_eng/roadside/scenic/

Thanks, All.

The Smokies are, I'm sure, well past peak color, but don't let that stop you. The east end of the Smokies (nearest where you'll be) is my favorite. It's off the tourist path, but has some of the best stuff.

Nearest Asheville is Cataloochee, which is like Cades Cove without the crowds. If you are hikers, there are several nice walks. Among the best known is the Boogerman trail, which is a 7+ mile round trip.

A little further, but still on the east end, is the town of Cosby. If you like funky, cheap, 50's era motels, try the Cub Motel. Just out of Cosby is the trailhead for the Madron Bald trail. About 3 miles in is the Albright Grove loop, with some of the biggest trees in the park.