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

A ghost town that was wiped out by a flood in 1940.

This fallen red oak tree has been transformed into a piece of trailside art.

A permanent outdoor art installation made up of more than 100 mushroom-shaped lights.

Don't be surprised if you see a long-necked dinosaur peeking out from among the trees in Northgate Park.

The world's largest vertical wind tunnel.

A 315-foot spire jutting out from the Blue Ridge Mountains makes for breathtaking views.

A mountaintop space observatory that is certified dark.

This granite rock face is named for the magnificent reflection that occurs when the sun hits it just right.

An eerily abandoned stone tower is all that remains of a demolished dam on Cape Fear River.

This Transylvania County city is home to a rare white squirrel population that is descended from an escaped carnival animal.

This research center for rare prosimians is studying how they sleep to help prolong human life.

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

A historic covered bridge, only one of two remaining in North Carolina.

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

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

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

A thin pane of glass keeps visitors from sliding off this futuristic skywalk.

Walk behind a 50-meter-high waterfall.

The world's largest underwater restaurant is submerged off the southern tip of Norway.

Walk 2,300 feet above the ground on the "Troll's Tongue."

A geological bull's-eye visible from outer space.

Climb atop one of the world's longest and heaviest trains for an unbelievable journey across the Sahara Desert.

A sprawling nature preserve harbors the world's only living dragons.