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All United States North Carolina

The Atlas Obscura Guide To North Carolina

180 Cool, Hidden, and Unusual Things to Do in North Carolina

Updated August 16, 2023

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Cities

Top Cities
Helen's Bridge
Asheville
Paths wind through the rose bushes.
Charlotte
Cloud Chamber for the Trees and Sky
Raleigh
Duke Lemur Center
Durham
The Museum of the Bizarre.
Wilmington
Regular fireflies. Just use your imagination.
Hendersonville
All Cities
  1. Asheville
  2. Beaufort
  3. Brevard
  4. Bryson City
  5. Burnsville
  6. Charlotte
  7. Cherokee
  8. Corolla
  9. Durham
  10. Greensboro
  11. Hatteras
  12. Hendersonville
  13. High Point
  14. Hillsborough
  15. Hot Springs
  16. Manteo
  17. Mount Airy
  18. New Bern
  19. Ocracoke
  20. Raleigh
  21. Rose Hill
  22. Sanford
  23. Supply
  24. Sylva
  25. Wilmington
  26. Winston Salem
Attractions
Food & Drink
Map
Leaderboards
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Lists

Unusual Attractions in North Carolina

Cryptozoology & Paranomal Museum in Littleton.

Littleton, North Carolina

Cryptozoology & Paranormal Museum

Bigfoot prints, Feejee mermaids, and haunted dolls on display in a tiny North Carolina town.
Regular fireflies. Just use your imagination.

Hendersonville, North Carolina

Blue Ghost Fireflies

These eerie outliers of the lightning bug family glow a mysterious blue color.
Tunnel at the end of the road.

Bryson City, North Carolina

The Road to Nowhere

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

Raleigh, North Carolina

Cloud Chamber for the Trees and Sky

This woodland architectural installation acts as a camera obscura for the heavens.
Castle Mont Rouge

Rougemont, North Carolina

Castle Mont Rouge

A sculptor's dream castle turned fantastical ruin.
Abandoned Henry River Mill Village

Hildebran, North Carolina

Abandoned Henry River Mill Village

An abandoned village that doubled as "The Hunger Games"' post-apocalyptic wasteland is up for grabs.
Helen's Bridge

Asheville, North Carolina

Helen's Bridge

This bridge is haunted by the ghost of a distraught mother.
Sliding Rock

Pisgah Forest, North Carolina

Sliding Rock

Who needs fancy modern water slides when this giant North Carolina rock works just as well?
See All 180 Things To Do in North Carolina

Cool Places to Eat & Drink in North Carolina

Under the trellis of perhaps the oldest grape vine in North America.

Manteo, North Carolina

The Mother Vine

Perhaps the oldest vine in North America, this sprawling plant helps make a sweet wine.
The World's Largest Frying Pan is found inside this gazebo in Rose Hill, N.C.

Rose Hill, North Carolina

The World's Largest Operational Frying Pan

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

Mount Airy, North Carolina

Scoops Ice Cream & Such

Follow the path behind this treat-slinging camper van to a sculpture garden in the forest.

Asheville, North Carolina

The Odd

A 17th-century bezoar, dirt from an infamous site, and other curios decorate this unusual bar.
See all 9 Places to Eat in North Carolina
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Unforgettable Experiences Nearby

Atlas Obscura Itineraries

The Secret History & Hidden Wonders of Charlotte, North Carolina

At the heart of the south, Charlotte is a booming city full of new life. Cranes have dotted the skyline for more than a decade as it has become the most populous city in North Carolina. There is so much to see in Charlotte, from a rose garden hidden just outside the city center to a retro video rental store with over 30,000 titles. What many newcomers don’t know is Charlotte’s deep-rooted history that dates back to before the colonies became the United States. This list of 10 destinations will only scratch the surface of the many special places to visit in the Queen City.

View Itinerary

Explore North Carolina

History 17
Museums And Collections 15
Houses 12
Homes 12
Art 11
Monuments 11
Animals 10
Architectural Oddities 10
Outsider Art 9
Collections 9
Mountains 8
Nature 8
Unique Restaurants & Bars 2

North Carolina Leaderboard

Places Added

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    meltingknight
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    5
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    amymanikowski
    4
  4. Avatar image for Laken Brooks
    Laken Brooks
    3
  5. Avatar image for igrohs
    igrohs
    3
Join the Ranks!
Add an unusual place to North Carolina.

Places Edited

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    PushingUpDaisies
    16
  2. M
    mackenzieprice13
    15
  3. Avatar image for Rachel
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    15
  4. M
    Martin
    14
  5. Avatar image for Molly McBride Jacobson
    Molly McBride Jacobson
    11

Places Visited

  1. Avatar image for dylanjamesyoung
    dylanjamesyoung
    107
  2. Avatar image for NCObscura
    NCObscura
    89
  3. G
    georgefspencer
    77
  4. D
    Dr Leia
    75
  5. K
    katsmitharts
    74

Recent North Carolina Activity

  • G

    gnstrong420

    wants to go to Hot Springs

  • J

    jabberwockymp

    wants to go to Weeksville Airship Hangar

  • J

    jabberwockymp

    has been to Weeksville Airship Hangar

  • J

    jabberwockymp

    has been to Grave Digger's Dungeon

  • P

    paleasfunk

    wants to go to Acid Park

Stories About North Carolina

An aerial view of the Biltmore’s grounds and gardens.

10 Reasons to Visit Asheville During the Week

Savoring the city’s cultural and culinary offerings with more room to explore.
Sponsored by Explore Asheville

Podcast: The Fugitive Train Wreck

Near the remains of a famed movie scene, an older, true story of injustice.
by The Podcast Team
May 18, 2023

What’s Inside the New Gastro Obscura Vending Machine?

The second iteration is filled with rare and unexpected treats from the American South.
Sponsored by Partners of Travel South
The beach at Hatteras.

Podcast: Shipwrecked Doritos

Join us for a daily celebration of the world’s most wondrous, unexpected, even strange places.
by The Podcast Team
December 15, 2021
At farmers markets and other events, Brown displays a variety of apples to incite pomaceous conversations.

Meet the Appalachian Apple Hunter Who Rescued 1,000 'Lost' Varieties

Tom Brown's retirement hobby is a godsend for chefs, conservationists, and cider.
by Eric J. Wallace
June 3, 2021
Morgan Crisp holds a beer from 7 Clans, the Native beer brand she cofounded in 2018.

The Radical Act of Opening a Brewery as a Native American

Many associate beer and spirits with disease and colonialism.
by Eric J. Wallace
November 16, 2020
Freeman Vines and his guitars, 2015.

A North Carolina Artist’s Search for a Lost Sound Uncovered a Dark History

Freeman Vines honors a lost Black life with his ‘Hanging Tree Guitars.’
by Winnie Lee
September 29, 2020
The 1975 Hollerin' Contest in Spivey's Corner, North Carolina.

The Rise and Fall of North Carolina's National Hollerin' Contest

Hollers are sort of like the yodels of the American South.
by Emily Cataneo
September 25, 2020

Lists Featuring North Carolina

Rats of Karni Mata Temple
Paxton Gate Exterior
Albino Squirrels of Olney, Illinois

A Rat Lover's Tour of the World

15 places where rodents are celebrated, feared, preserved, and studied.

15

Including Karni Mata Temple, Nutty Narrows Bridge, and Paxton Gate

Original letter of Abraham, the son of Maimonides found in the Cairo genizah.
A sculpture of the Tower of Babel, by Alan Baughman, from the Introductory Room of the Museum of the Alphabet
Boontling word of the week in the tap room of the Anderson Valley Brewing Company.

A Linguistics Lover's Tour of the World

12 places to marvel at the history of human language.

12

Including The Cairo Genizah , The Museum of the Alphabet , and Boontling Language of Boonville

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