The longest and third-largest state east of the Mississippi River, North Carolina is also very diverse. In the western part of the state are Appalachian highlands. These were formed many millions of years ago when North America collided with Africa and Europe, causing the earth to buckle.
Along the border with Tennessee are the rounded, forested slopes of the Great Smokey Mountains. North Carolina shares Great Smoky Mountain National Park, known for its diverse and lush plants, with Tennessee. A scenic highway known as the Blue Ridge Parkway links the park with Virginia to the North.
East of the Smokies is the parallel Blue Ridge range. Between the Smokies and the Blue Ridge Mountains is a plateau from which sprout still more mountains, including Mt. Mitchell. At 6,684 feet, it is the highest peak in the eastern United States.
East of the Appalachian highlands is a region of foothills some 200 miles wide. These rolling hills are known as the Piedmont. North Carolina’s largest cities, including Raleigh, are located here among shallow, swift-flowing streams. Along the Fall Line, mills powered by such streams have long produced textiles.
The third great region—and it is truly great—is the Coastal Plain. In the southwest corner of the Coastal Plain is a popular winter resort known as the Sandhills. This area of pine-covered dunes seems a symbolic link between land and sea.
An old North Carolina nickname, Turpentine State, also links land and sea. This nickname was inspired by one of the products derived from pine trees. Turpentine was commonly used by the shipping industry.
Few states boast such an exciting naval heritage. Some 500 miles from the Appalachians, a chain of barrier islands shield the mainland from the open sea. Low islands of sand piled by wind, waves, and ocean currents are common around the world. Along America’s Atlantic Coast, however, North Carolina is the barrier island champion.
In North Carolina, these islands are called the Outer Banks. They fringe almost the entire coast, ranging in height from a few feet to over 100 feet at Kill Devil Hill and Jockey’s Ridge. From these banks, Cape Hatteras, Cape Lookout, and Cape Fear jut out into the sea. Not content with the nation’s first national seashore—Cape Hatteras—North Carolina also hosts Cape Lookout National Seashore to the south.
The Outer Banks have known many adventures and misadventures. They were the sight of the first English colony in the New World, founded on Roanoke Island. Tragically, this colony mysteriously disappeared. In 1903, the Wright brothers launched the first successful airplane flight from Kill Devil Hill, near the community of Kitty Hawk on Cape Hatteras Seashore. Today, hang glider enthusiasts launch their craft from high points on the Outer Banks.
Between the Outer Banks and the mainland are five sounds, or arms of the sea: Currituck, Albemarle, Pamlico, Core, and Bogue. Shifting inlets connecting these sounds to each other and to the open sea make navigation hazardous. The sea has claimed so many ships that Cape Hatteras is called the “Graveyard of the Atlantic.”
The famous pirate Blackbeard was himself shipwrecked along the North Carolina coast. He was later killed in a naval battle along the coast. It is rumored that he left treasure buried somewhere along the Atlantic Coast.
Along the coast of the mainland there are numerous bays, inlets, and lakes. Traveling inland from the coast, one does not quickly escape the sea. The Tidewater area is the name given to a region that is periodically flooded by tides. The cities of Gatesville, Washington, New Bern, Jacksonville, and Wilmington are near the inland edge of the Tidewater area.
Another famous wetland is Great Dismal Swamp. Surveyed by George Washington, Great Dismal stretches north into Virginia.
One of North Carolina’s best known rivers also flows north, into Ohio. This is unusual because most of North Carolina’s rivers flow southeast towards the Atlantic. Even more unusual is the river’s name. Scientists say the New River is actually the second oldest river in the world and the oldest in North America.
Legends of lost colonies and buried treasure, shipwrecks, and ancient rivers are the least of North Carolina’s mysteries. The greatest riddles of all lie buried deep beneath the ground.
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