The National Park Service turns 100 years old on August 25 although both national and state parks began celebrating the centennial with special events beginning in January.
The distinctive landscape of the North Carolina mountains and foothills, combined with the region’s living traditions of craft, music, agriculture, and the Cherokee heritage, create a wealth of natural and cultural treasures unmatched by any other state.
Seven national parks solely in North Carolina are Cape Hatteras (Nags Head), Cape Lookout (Harkers Island), Carl Sandburg Home (Flat Rock), Fort Raleigh (Manteo), Guilford Courthouse (Greensboro), Moores Creek (Currie), and Wright Brothers (Kill Devil Hill).
We share several national parks with adjoining states like the Appalachian (with 13 other states), Blue Ridge (with Virginia), Great Smoky Mountains (with Tennessee), Gullah/Geechee, (with Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina), Overmountain Victory (with SC, Tennessee, and Virginia), and the Trail of Tears (with eight other states).
Nine of our 28 state parks are in Piedmont counties. They are Crowders Mountain (5,126 acres), Eno River (4,200 acres), Hanging Rock (7,869 acres), Haw River (1,379 acres with limited access), Lake Norman (3,644 acres), Mayo River ( (2,187 acres), Medoc Mountain (3,893 acres), Morrow Mountain (4,496 acres), and Mount Mitchell, the first North Carolina state park (1,996 acres) and the highest point in the eastern United States.
Several of the new state parks are still being planned and developed. A few of the older state parks were greatly expanded in size in the 2000s, adding trails and bike paths open to the public.