Kick-It Picks Things to Do in North Carolina
The stops worth the drive — and the truth about the ones that aren't.
North Carolina isn't one state you can do in a weekend — it's three. The mountains in the west, the working Piedmont down the middle, the wild coast out east. From the highest peak east of the Mississippi to the beach where humans first flew, the land changes under you three times. These are the picks worth driving all three regions for.
Regions: Mountains · Piedmont · Coast
Everything below is a Kick-It Pick — the entries we’d grab you by the collar for. Each one is pulled from Kick the Bucket List: North Carolina, our 120-stop field guide, and each carries a blunt Bucket Rating so you know what’s non-negotiable and what to skip. Prices and hours drift; we stamp every page with the date we checked it and fix what changes.
The Big Ten
Drive America's Favorite Road
Non-negotiableLose the Crowd in the Smokies
Non-negotiableRun the Outer Banks
Non-negotiableTour the Biggest House in America
Non-negotiableCross the Mile-High Bridge
Worth the driveThe Great Outdoors
Oddities
Eats
Eat Whole Hog Where They Wrote the Book
Non-negotiableCross the Barbecue Line
Non-negotiableCatch the "Hot Now" Light
Worth the driveDrink the Cherry-Red Soda
Worth the driveDrink Your Way Through Beer City
Non-negotiableRoad Trips
Small Towns
Month by Month
Get all 120 in Kick the Bucket List: North Carolina
These are the marquee Kick-It Picks. The book has 120 — adventures, eats, road trips, and the small towns worth the detour — each with a checkbox, a date line, and a Bucket Rating. Fill it in. Score yourself.
See the North Carolina book →