The North Carolina course area consists of two very distinct places:
the Southern Appalachian Mountains along the western North Carolina,
Tennessee and Georgia borders and the North Carolina Outer Banks
located on the state’s eastern coast.
The Southern Appalachians, some of the oldest uplands on Earth,
boast not only ancient ridgelines, but also 6,000-foot summits.
These mountain ranges (including the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky
Mountains) have the highest peaks east of the Mississippi. While
traversing through wilderness and backcountry areas of these famously
hazy mountains backpackers and rock climbers discover some of the
finest terrain for outdoor adventure in the country. The Southern
Appalachians are criss-crossed by cool mountain streams that cascade
into waterfalls and tumble into premier whitewater rivers. Thousands
of beautiful flora and fauna inhabit this area of North Carolina
due to its temperate rainforest climate and very lush growth of
vegetation.
The North Carolina Outer Banks, a unique ecosystem, consists of
ocean waters, sandy beaches, vital wetlands, maritime forests, and
a series of sounds, estuaries and salt marshes. Kayakers can experience
these unique ecosystems while navigating through the Core and Pamlico
Sounds along the Cape Lookout National Seashore. These large sounds
are buffered from the Atlantic Ocean by miles of barrier islands
and provide exceptional sea kayaking opportunities. This area, also
known as The Graveyard of the Atlantic, is the birth place of much
early North Carolinian and U.S. history, including colonization
and tales of pirates, like Blackbeard.
