North Carolina National Parks

North Carolina national parks extend from the blue ridge mountains of the west to the beautiful barrier island coastline of the east. Along the way are scenic trails, diverse plan and animal life, “America’s favorite drive”, the history of literary figures, stories of the first colony, the fight for independence, and man’s first flight. Enjoy all that North Carolina has to offer.

Visit These North Carolina National Parks:

Appalachian National Scenic Trail: The People's Path, and America's First National Scenic Trail   "The body of the Trail is provided by the lands it traverses, and its soul is in the living stewardship of the volunteers and workers of the Appalachian Trail community."

Blue Ridge Parkway: A drive down the Blue Ridge Parkway is meant to be slow paced and relaxing. A stop at almost any overlook or trail will reveal much of the natural and cultural history here. The Parkway meanders 469 miles between Shenandoah and Great Smoky Mountains National Parks, so explore the many communities along the way that make our region so special. Enjoy the view, but watch the road!

Blue Ridge National Heritage Area: The Blue Ridge National Heritage Area encompasses the mountains of North Carolina and includes the Blue Ridge Parkway and Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The heritage area is known for its thriving traditions of craft, music, agriculture, and Cherokee culture. The region's distinctive landscape contains eastern America’s tallest mountain and deepest gorge.

Blue Ridge National Weather

Cape Hatteras National Seashore: A thin broken strand of islands curves out into the Atlantic Ocean and then back again in a sheltering embrace of North Carolina’s mainland coast and its offshore sounds. These are the Outer Banks of North Carolina. For thousands of years these barrier islands have survived the onslaught of wind and sea.

Cape Hatteras Weather

Cape Lookout National Seashore: Take a boat trip three miles off-shore to the islands of Cape Lookout National Seashore. Here you can enjoy remote beaches, watch wild horses and other wildlife, or visit one of the historic districts. Be sure to bring a picnic lunch for the day. Going camping takes a little more planning.

Cape Lookout Weather

Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site: Carl Sandburg was already famous when he moved with his family to the Blue Ridge mountains of western North Carolina in 1945. Poet, minstrel, lecturer, biographer, and Pulitzer Prize winning author, he had spent his lifetime championing social justice and the American people through his writings and his singing.

Carl Sandburg Weather

Fort Raleigh National Historic Site: After the changes wrought by four centuries, it is not easy to imagine the America seen by the small band of settlers who gained for England a foothold in the New World. They had left behind the comfortable limits and familiar rhythms of European civilization for a boundless and unpredictable world in which vigilance, courage, and endurance were needed just to survive.

Fort Raleigh Weather

Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Ridge upon ridge of forest straddles the border between North Carolina and Tennessee in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. World renowned for its diversity of plant and animal life, the beauty of its ancient mountains, and the quality of its remnants of Southern Appalachian mountain culture, this is America's most visited national park.

Guilford Courthouse National Military Park: The largest, most hotly-contested battle of the Revolutionary War's Southern Campaign was fought at the small North Carolina backcounty hamlet of Guilford Courthouse. The battle proved to be the highwater mark of British military operations in the Revolutionary War.

Guilford Courthouse Weather

Moores Creek National Battlefield: At Moores Creek Bridge a brief, violent clash at daybreak on February 27, 1776, saw militia patriots defeat a larger force of loyalists marching toward a rendezvous with a British naval squadron. Brief but important, the battle effectively ended royal authority in the colony of North Carolina and helped forestall a full-scale British invasion of the South.

Moores Creek Weather

Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail: The Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail travels through VA, TN, NC & SC, retracing the route of patriot militia as they tracked down the British. Eventually the two forces clashed, ending in patriot victory at the battle of Kings Mountain. The trail is still under development through partnerships, but the public has many places to visit and walk today.

Trail of Tears National Historic Trail: Come on a journey to remember and commemorate the survival of the Cherokee people despite their forced removal from their homelands in the Southeastern United States in the 1840s.

Trail of Tears Ratings

Wright Brothers National Memorial: This was the real thing, transcending the powered hops and glides others had achieved. The Wright machine had flown. But it would not fly again; after the last flight it was caught by a gust of wind, rolled over, and damaged beyond easy repair. Their flying season over, the Wrights sent their father a matter-of-fact telegram reporting the modest numbers behind their epochal achievement.

Wright Brothers Weather