A mountaintop space observatory that is certified dark.

The highest point in North Carolina and the United States east of the Mississippi River, Mount Mitchell is named after argumentative explorer Elisha Mitchell.

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

Saunter along the banks of one of North Carolina’s wildest rivers

Bigfoot prints, Feejee mermaids, and haunted dolls on display in a tiny North Carolina town.

A vast collection of everyday items amassed by one man.

A monument to the sheer amount of oddities one can collect over a lifetime.

The 15-foot-wide, 2-ton pan fries hundreds of chickens once a year.

The original location of Vollis Simpson’s Whirligigs.

A sign marks the plane crash that caused two nuclear bombs to fall in North Carolina.

Burial site more than 300 years old.

A piece of outsider public art accompanied by a strange urban legend.

A maritime museum holding the remains of Blackbeard's pirate ship.

This sinkhole is disguised as a pond and named after the man who stumbled upon it.

The Cadillac Ranch for monster truck aficionados.

During World War II, blimps were a key part of the United States' defense against German U-boats—this building could house a dozen of the armed airships.

Beautiful Gothic-inspired lighthouse stands out among the run-of-the-mill striped fare on Bodies Island.

A sculptor's dream castle turned fantastical ruin.

A retired tobacco farmer's pet project turned into a sturdy miniature city.

This lake—the second largest in the state— was hiding historic treasures beneath its surface.

The humble gravesite of the man who failed to cash in on his Pepsi-cola goldmine.

The oldest church building in the state.

This dig site outside D.C. is known for its exceptionally high density of baby dinosaur fossils and dinosaur eggs.

Now home to hardy plants, these sand and gravel dunes once held back a massive prehistoric lake.