A historic dam made famous for its turbines and feature in a Hollywood classic.

This winding road of 318 curves is a must-visit for (careful) motorcycle and sports car enthusiasts.

A recreation of the doomed ocean liner in the middle of the Smoky Mountains.

The highest point in Tennessee, Clingmans Dome bears witness to the ravages of one type of insect.

Wild lights and sound effects turn a walk through some caves into an eye-popping 1960s tourist attraction.

A rapidly disappearing authentic bit of the old south.

This 5-by-6-foot wooden hut is the smallest historic post office in the U.S.

Some North Carolina Cherokee have been keeping their history alive for decades with a single play.

Railroad came. People came. Railroad left. Town died.

The remains of the iconic train crash from the movie The Fugitive can still be found rusting along the Great Smoky Railroad.

North Carolina's finest examples of Native American pictographs have survived for 5,000 years.

The wooden house where the jazz great learned to play the piano.

These eerie outliers of the lightning bug family glow a mysterious blue color.

Who needs fancy modern water slides when this giant North Carolina rock works just as well?

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

Practice your Dirty Dancing lifts in the manmade lake where Johnny Castle himself did.

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

Asheville, North Carolina, was the the second place in the world to enjoy Kentucky Fried Chicken's secret recipe.

An early life spent in this "Old Kentucky Home" inspired the writings of North Carolina's most famous novelist.

This North Carolina museum is keeping the pinball craze alive, with a little Space Invaders on the side.

This giant iron playfully pays tribute to an early 20th-century architectural trend.

A wedding chapel, vintage clothing shop, and bar all under one roof.

The enormous 250-room Vanderbilt mansion conceals hidden doors and secret passageways.

A giant cement churn carries the legacy of American resilience, unity, and greed.