Fun Facts about North Carolina You Probably Didn’t Know
After 2 years of living in Raleigh, North Carolina, I have learned so many cool facts about this state that really blew my mind! Therefore, I, of caourse, must share all these awesome facts with you, because, North Carolina is in fact a really cool state!
Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links. I may earn a small commission at no cost to you. Disclosure.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Fun Facts about North Carolina You Probably Didn’t Know
- 1. Tallest Sand Dune on the East Coast
- 2. First in Flight
- 3. Highest Mountain Peak on the East Coast
- 4. Highest Ski Mountain
- 5. The largest Private Estate in the USA
- 6. Home to Pepsi
- 7. Home to Krispy Kreme Donuts
- 8. Largest Producer of Sweet Potatoes
- 9. Inventor of Mini-Golf
- 10. North Carolina Christmas Trees
- 11. NC Black Bears
- 12. North Carolina Has Wild Horses
- 13. Oldest Public Univerity
- 14. America’s longest linear parkway
- 15. North Carolina BBQ
- Facts about North Carolina: Wrap-up
1. Tallest Sand Dune on the East Coast
Did you know you could find the tallest living sand dune in North Carolina? Well, east of the Mississippi. It is called Jockeys Ridge is located in the Outer Banks! The sand dunes can reach 60 ft. tall.
2. First in Flight
As a traveler, one of my favorite North Carolina facts is that we were first in flight. Kitty Hawk, also located in the Outer Banks is where the Wrights Brothers were first to fly a plane. Now the “First in Flight” North Carolina License plate makes sense!
3. Highest Mountain Peak on the East Coast
North Carolina is home to the highest peak east of the Mississippi. You can drive to the top of Mt. Mitchell and enjoy panoramic views at 6,684 ft. It is known as one of the best stops on the Blue Ridge Parkways.
4. Highest Ski Mountain
Looking to hit the slopes? North Carolina is also known to have the highest ski slope on the North East. Located in Western North Carolina, Beech Mountain Ski Slope is 5,505 ft.
5. The largest Private Estate in the USA
Located in Asheville, you can explore the Biltmore Estate and massive gardens.
6. Home to Pepsi
North Carolina is where one of the most famous soft drinks was born; Pepsi.
7. Home to Krispy Kreme Donuts
Krispy Kreme Donuts was also born in the tar heel state!
8. Largest Producer of Sweet Potatoes
North Carolina is the largest producer of sweet potatoes, yummm!
9. Inventor of Mini-Golf
Mini-golf/putt-putt golf was said to be started in North Carolina.
10. North Carolina Christmas Trees
NC is one of the top producing states of Christmas Trees out in Ashe County.
11. NC Black Bears
The largest concentration of black bears in the southeastern United States is in North Carolina. They are also known as some of the largest Black Bears and can be found on NC’s coastal plains.
12. North Carolina Has Wild Horses
Wild Horses can be found on the Outer Banks in Corolla. These wild Colonial Spanish Mustangs have been living on there for 500 years!
13. Oldest Public Univerity
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill claims to be the oldest public university in the USA.
14. America’s longest linear parkway
The Blue Ridge Parkway is America’s longest linear park running through Virginia and, you guessed it, North Carolina!
15. North Carolina BBQ
Another fun fact about North Carolina is that we have some of the best Barbeque Cities in the America!
Facts about North Carolina: Wrap-up
As you can see, North Carolina indeed has some pretty cool facts! If I missed any of your favorite facts about the Tar-Heel state, let me know in the comments below!
Other North Carolina guides you might enjoy: Sunflowers Fields in Raleigh | Best Places for Fall in North Carolina | Boone Weekend Guide | Instagrammable Places in Raleigh
This puts visiting North Carolina on my wish list
I live in NC and didn’t know some of these! Saving this for my NC road trip
I can’t believe NC has skiing at all, let alone the highest mountain on the East Coast!
Well if Krispy Kreme was born, that is enough for me !
Thanks for sharing all these fun facts 🙂
Interesting about the black bears! I never would have guessed! Thanks for sharing.
Yes I saw several black bears when I visited! So cool!
So interesting facts about North Carolina! I had no idea about most of them! I was most amazed about Krispy Kreme and Pepsi!
I don’t know why but I love reading facts about other countries! It always makes me curious to see more of the country. I didn’t know Pepsi was founded in NC!
Great post! I live in Florida now so I’m just close enough to make a visit easy… but I haven’t been yet! Awesome advice 🙂 thanks for sharing!
This is such a fun list! I love North Carolina. The fact that Krispy Kreme was born there just blew my mind!
This is awesome Sam! I didn’t know that the tallest peak is in NC. I also didn’t know the tallest ski slope was in NC too, for some reason, I thought it was in Vermont. I learned a lot of new things from this blog post. 🙂
Very interesting. I’m from Georgia and UGA (where I went to school) also claims to be the oldest university in the USA. I didn’t know that other schools also had the same claim. It looks like there are 3!
I live in Charlotte, NC and didn’t even know some of these facts! I just learned that Mt Mitchel is the tallest peak east of the Mississippi though! I was able to visit last month! Such a cool fun fact! Love this so much!