Topics Related to Backpacking sites

Location: Alleghany County, 62 miles northwest of Winston-Salem

You can find: Stone Mountain and rich natural communities as you traverse the summit

Location: Burke County, 70 miles east of Asheville

You can find: elevations up to 3,000 feet, mountain streams, and the rosebay rhododendron

Location: Harnett County, 40 miles southwest of Raleigh

At the park, you can find: Raven Rock; rapids on the Cape Fear River; Northington Lock and Dam remains; creek tributaries; mountain laurel

Location: Ashe County, 31 miles northeast of Boone

At the park, you can find: 26.5 miles of the New River; the hellbender salamander; 14 rare and threatened species of flora

Location: Ashe County, 36 miles northeast of Boone

At the park, you can find: 26.5 miles of the New River; the hellbender salamander; 14 rare and threatened species of flora

Location: Stanly County, 51 miles north of Charlotte

You can find: Morrow Mountain, one of the highest peak in the Uwharries, and bald eagles spotted from Lake Tillery

Location: Gates County, 10 miles south of the northeast border with Virginia

You can find: millpond more than 200 years old and the American alligator at the northernmost point of its range

Location: McDowell County, 50 miles east of Asheville

At the park, you can find: Lake James and its resident bald eagles

Location: Chatham County, 29 miles southwest of downtown Raleigh

At the park, you can find: 14,000-acre Jordan Lake reservoir and the bald eagle

Location: Onslow County, 19 miles east of Jacksonville

You can find: Bear Island, a 4-mile-long, undeveloped barrier island, and sea turtle nests, including loggerhead turtles, who nest above the high tide line at the island