There's something special about Asheville, this thriving mountain city nestled in the Appalachian Mountains. Asheville is the ultimate playground, with a wide diversity of outdoor adventures.

Asheville loves to do things differently. So it’s fitting the city’s history museum is outdoors along the sidewalks of downtown. Take a self-guided “scavenger hunt” to learn about tidbits of Asheville’s fascinating past. With the help of a map, walk 1.7 miles to 30 stations, each with a piece of art and a bronze plaque that commemorates the city’s most significant cultural, educational, social and architecture stories. The Urban Trail is divided into five distinct eras, each of which has a symbol carved into pink granite blocks placed in the sidewalk along the way.

Asheville, N.C. nominated their favorite places to watch the sun set over the Blue Ridge Mountains. Thousands of miles of trails twist, meander, dip and climb through the peaks and valleys around Asheville. This world-class hiking destination, you can take your pick from peaceful hikes along streams and technical journey's up steep terrain. Some hikes give you a view into the region’s past, and some just give you views of ridge after ridge of Appalachian mountain beauty.

The Blue Ridge Parkway entertains you; it is a 469-mile experience, a masterpiece of the National Park collection, traveling from Shenandoah National Park to Great Smoky Mountains National Park with a sense of drama that ebbs and flows with the landscape. The Parkway is the most iconic drive in the U.S., but it is so much more than a scenic drive. With protected peaks, wetlands, and trailheads around every sinuous curve, the Parkway is an avenue for exploration—a wildflower hunter’s dream, a hiker’s delight, a birder’s paradise…