Best Hiking Trails In North Carolina

Best Hiking Trails In North Carolina

#1. Black Mountain Crest
An inspiring overnight backpack or shorter day hike across the Black Mountains, with summits all well above 6.000 feet. Views are astounding along this sparsely vegetated ridge, plummeting 4000 feet

From the guidebook "Hiking North Carolina"
Asheville, NC - Hiking - 12 miles (About Top Trails)

#2. Mount Mitchell
Mt. Mitchell—the highest peak east of the Mississippi—is a crowning part of the Blue Ridge Parkway experience. The only motorized access to the mountain is from the Parkway, at Milepost 355.3,
From the guidebook "Hiking the Blue Ridge Parkway"
Asheville, NC - Hiking - 12 miles (About Top Trails)

#3. Uwharrie National Forest
Wonderful, woodsy circuit hikes in Uwharrie National Forest, some of substantial length. The Uwharrie and Dutchmans Creek trails form a figure eight
From the guidebook "Hiking North Carolina"
Asheboro, NC - Hiking - 20.1 miles (About Top Trails)

#4. Mount Pisgah Area Trails
Driving the Parkway from Asheville to Mt. Pisgah is a humbling experience —especially if you stopped by Biltmore House and Gardens on the way through town.

From the guidebook "Hiking the Blue Ridge Parkway"
Brevard, NC - Hiking - 6.4 miles (About Top Trails)

#5. Appalachian Trail: Clingmans Dome to Spence Field
This hike is a long, difficult, beautiful hike, and by the end, you will have your own definition of a southern Appalachian knob.

From the guidebook "Exploring the Appalachian Trail: Hikes in the Southern Appalachians"
Cades Cove, NC - Hiking - 22.1 miles (About Top Trails)

#6. Appalachian Trail - Southern Balds Section
An inspiring hike on the Appalachian Trail (AT) over the mountaintop meadows called the Southern Balds. As a whole, this is a wonderful but strenuous backpacking trip. Hikers can also make day hikes
From the guidebook "Hiking North Carolina"
Bakersville, NC - Hiking - 13 miles (About Top Trails)

#7. Appalachian Trail: Allen Gap to Devil Fork Gap
The northern half of this hike borders the Bald Mountain Ridge Scenic Area in the Cherokee National Forest, and the AT runs along a rugged, isolated crest. Outstanding view

From the guidebook "Exploring the Appalachian Trail: Hikes in the Southern Appalachians"
Hot Springs, NC - Hiking - 20.2 miles (About Top Trails)

#8. Gregory Bald Overnight Loop
This hike combines the best that the high and low country have to offer. First, you'll travel up the Twentymile Trail past Twentymile Cascades to the Upper Flats streamside camp.

From the guidebook "Day & Overnight Hikes in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park"
Fontana Village, NC - Hiking - 15.7 miles (About Top Trails)

#9. Craggy Gardens
A more than mile-high area of crags and bald mountains with a variety of hikes, easy to moderate, with spectacular vistas and a waterfall. General location: Blue Ridge Parkway

From the guidebook "Hiking North Carolina"
Asheville, NC - Hiking - 6.2 miles (About Top Trails)

#10. Shining Rock Wilderness
Hikes to bald summits and evergreen forests of the Shining Rock wilderness. Most of these hikes begin on the Graveyard Trail, a less-used and scenic route. General location: Blue Ridge Parkway
From the guidebook "Hiking North Carolina"
Asheville, NC - Hiking - 9 miles (About Top Trails)

#11. Linville Gorge Wilderness
A 12,002-acre tract of designated wilderness, Linville Gorge lies between Jonas Ridge to the east and Linville Mountain to the west. The Blue Ridge Parkway skirts the head of the gorge From the guidebook "Hiking the Blue Ridge Parkway"
Crossnore, NC - Hiking - 14 miles (About Top Trails)

#12. Andrews Bald
This is one of the Smokies' finest hikes. The trip passes through an extraordinary spruce-fir forest to the grassy field of Andrews Bald. Resplendent with stunning view

From the guidebook "Day & Overnight Hikes in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park"
Cherokee, NC - Hiking - 3.6 miles (About Top Trails)

#13. Shining Rock Wilderness
As you drive south out of Asheville and climb past Mt. Pisgah, the Shining Rock Wilderness can’t help but catch your attention.

From the guidebook "Hiking the Blue Ridge Parkway"
Brevard, NC - Hiking - 8.8 miles (About Top Trails)

#14. Bartram Trail
An outstanding ridge walk, perfect for backpacking or day hiking. The graded trail traverses a rarely visited ridge and spectacular summits. General location: North of Highlands....
From the guidebook "Hiking North Carolina"
Highlands, NC - Hiking - 8.5 miles (About Top Trails)

#15. Appalachian Trail:

Carvers Gap to Roan High Bluff & Rhododendron Gardens
Roan Mountain is a place of mystery, legend, wild beauty, and superlatives. The largest of the southern Appalachian grassy balds

From the guidebook "Exploring the Appalachian Trail: Hikes in the Southern Appalachians"
Bakersville, NC - Hiking - 5.6 miles (About Top Trails)

#16. Appalachian Trail: Carvers Gap to US 19E
Wide-open spaces, miles of waving grass, alpine wildflowers … Is this the southern Appalachians? Botanist Asa Gray observed in the 1880s that he could ride his horse for 14 miles on Roan Mountain
From the guidebook "Exploring the Appalachian Trail: Hikes in the Southern Appalachians"
Roan Mountain, TN - Hiking - 13.4 miles (About Top Trails)

#17. Appalachian Trail: Davenport Gap to Max Patch
Because of distance and several long ups and downs, the rating on this hike is "strenuous," but in general the grade is good with no difficult or rough spots. From the guidebook "Exploring the Appalachian Trail: Hikes in the Southern Appalachians"
Waterville, NC - Hiking - 16 miles (About Top Trails)

#18. Graveyard Fields Loop Trail
A loop that reaches two waterfalls and explores a high, alpine-like valley. A second circuit involves a new portion of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail.

From the guidebook "Hiking the Blue Ridge Parkway"
Brevard, NC - Hiking - 9.5 miles

#19. Fontana Lake Overnight Loop
If you like a combination of mountains and lakes, this moderate hike is for you and any younger or inexperienced backpackers you may wish to bring along.

From the guidebook "Day & Overnight Hikes in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park"
Fontana Village, NC - Hiking - 17.7 miles

#20. Appalachian Trail: Deep Gap to Timber Ridge Trail
At 5498 feet, Standing Indian Mountain is the highest point south of the Smokies and the southernmost mile-high peak on the AT. However, the trail climbs gradually with switchbacks
From the guidebook "Exploring the Appalachian Trail: Hikes in the Southern Appalachians"
Franklin, NC - Hiking - 10.4 miles

Source: http://www.trails.com

North Carolina- NC- Top 20 Best Scenic Drives

North Carolina- NC- Top 20 Best Scenic Drives

#1. Great Smoky Mountains National Park
This park is close to major population centers, but its lush greenery and pleasantly rounded peaks create a soothing aura of tranquillity.

#2. Blue Ridge Parkway: Asheville to Great Smoky Mountains National Park
A 75-mile paved section of one of the most famous routes in America, following the dramatic crest of the Pisgah and Great Balsam Mountains to Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
From the guidebook "Scenic Driving North Carolina"

Asheville, NC - Scenic Drives - 75 miles (About Top Trails)

#3. Uwharrie Mountains: Uwharrie National Forest
A 34-mile paved and gravel route that winds through the ancient Uwharrie Mountains and the Uwharrie National Forest, past rivers, a lake, a covered bridge, and many hiking opportunities. From the guidebook "Scenic Driving North Carolina"

Eldorado, NC - Scenic Drives - 34 miles

#4. Mountain Waters Scenic Byway
A 61.3-mile paved route through the southern Appalachian Mountains, with whitewater river gorges, hardwood forests, and rural farm country. The Mountain Waters Scenic Byway traverses beautiful mountains. From the guidebook "National Forest Scenic Byways East & South"

Highlands, NC - Scenic Drives - 61.3 miles

#5. Mountain Waters Scenic Byway: Highlands to the Nantahala River Gorge
A 61-mile paved route that winds through some of the most spectacular country in the Nantahala National Forest, including multiple waterfalls, a roaring whitewater river, and tremendous mountaintop views. From the guidebook "Scenic Driving North Carolina"

Franklin, NC - Scenic Drives - 61 miles

#6. Whitewater Falls: Highlands to Rosman
A 41-mile paved route through the resort towns of Highlands, Cashiers, and Lake Toxaway via Whitewater Falls, one of the highest waterfalls in the eastern United States. From the guidebook "Scenic Driving North Carolina"

Cashiers, NC - Scenic Drives - 41 miles

#7. Bentonville Battleground: Cliffs of the Neuse State Park to Bentonville Battleground
A 33-mile paved route from a state park with cliffs (surprising for the coastal plain) to Bentonville Battleground, the site of the last major Confederate offensive of the Civil War. From the guidebook "Scenic Driving North Carolina"

Goldsboro, NC - Scenic Drives - 33 miles

#8. Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest: Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest to Tennessee State Line
A 25-mile paved road through beautiful, undeveloped Nantahala National Forest, including old-growth trees at Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest and tremendous views from the crest of the Unicoi Mountains. From the guidebook "Scenic Driving North Carolina"

Robbinsville, NC - Scenic Drives - 25 miles

#9. Crowders Mountain: Kings Mountain National Military Park, SC to Crowders Mountain
A short, paved 10-mile route chock-full of interesting sights, including a Revolutionary War battlefield, two state parks, a living history farm just over the border in South Carolina. From the guidebook "Scenic Driving North Carolina"

Gastonia, NC - Scenic Drives - 10 miles

#10. Linville Gorge: Pisgah National Forest near Linville Falls
A 19-mile gravel and paved route that encircles rugged Linville Gorge. This drive partially encircles Linville Gorge, a yawning chasm where the Linville River tumbles 2,000 feet in 14 miles. From the guidebook "Scenic Driving North Carolina"

Linville Falls, NC - Scenic Drives - 19 miles

#11. Blowing Rock: Blowing Rock to Roseboro
A 26-mile paved and gravel road from the busy resort town of Blowing Rock deep into the tranquil Pisgah National Forest and past the tiny communities of Globe, Edgemont, Mortimer, and Roseboro. From the guidebook "Scenic Driving North Carolina"

Blowing Rock, NC - Scenic Drives - 26 miles

#12. Newfound Gap & Clingmans Dome: Great Smoky Mountains National Park
A 24-mile paved road that climbs from the base of the Great Smoky Mountains to the highest peak, past historic sites, rushing mountain streams, numerous overlooks, and lush forest. From the guidebook "Scenic Driving North Carolina"

Bryson City, NC - Scenic Drives - 24 miles

#13. Hanging Rock: Pilot Mountain to Hanging Rock
A 24-mile paved road between two prominent remnants of the ancient Sauratown Mountains, often called “the mountains away from the mountains” because of their isolation from the Blue Ridge. From the guidebook "Scenic Driving North Carolina"

Mount Airy, NC - Scenic Drives - 24 miles

#14. Green Swamp: Clarkton to Supply
A 44-mile drive across a very lightly developed area of the coastal plain, past the interesting Green Swamp. This is a low-key trip across a very lightly developed section of the coastal plain. From the guidebook "Scenic Driving North Carolina"

Supply, NC - Scenic Drives - 44 miles

#15. Heintooga-Round Bottom Road: Great Smoky Mountains National Park
A 35-mile paved and gravel road through a scenic but lightly visited part of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. From the guidebook "Scenic Driving North Carolina"

Cherokee, NC - Scenic Drives - 35 miles

#16. Cape Hatteras National Seashore: Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge to Hatteras
A 48-mile drive past the seemingly endless beaches and dunes of Cape Hatteras National Seashore, with a visit to a wildlife refuge and what is probably the best-known lighthouse in America. From the guidebook "Scenic Driving North Carolina"

Waves, NC - Scenic Drives - 48 miles

#17. Overhill Skyway
A winding, 44-mile paved route through the southern Appalachian Mountains, through the ancestral territories of the Cherokee Indian nation. This route is also called the Cherohala Skyway. From the guidebook "National Forest Scenic Byways East & South"

Tellico Plains, TN - Scenic Drives - 44 miles

#18. Elk Falls: Vilas to Elk Falls
A 25-mile mostly paved road through rugged mountains, past a historic general store to a large, accessible waterfall. This drive follows a winding route through the mountains west of Boone. From the guidebook "Scenic Driving North Carolina"

Banner Elk, NC - Scenic Drives - 25 miles

#19. Forest Heritage Scenic Drive: Pisgah National Forest near Brevard
A 65-mile paved road through the heart of the Pisgah Ranger District of the Pisgah National Forest, past waterfalls, historic sites, mountain overlooks, and miles of lush, undeveloped forest. From the guidebook "Scenic Driving North Carolina"

Brevard, NC - Scenic Drives - 65 miles

#20. Roan Mountain: Spruce Pine to Roan Mountain
A 25-mile paved route from the historic mining town of Spruce Pine to the extensive rhododendron gardens on the summit of Roan Mountain. From the guidebook "Scenic Driving North Carolina"

Spruce Pine, NC - Scenic Drives - 25 miles

Forest City North Carolina

Forest City North Carolina

Forest City is located six miles east of Rutherfordton, the county seat, and is situated in the foothills of the Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains of North Carolina. The town is interconnected by three US highways, 74, 221, 64, and one state highway 108. Forest City is a wonderful community with a colorful history and a bright future.

What is now Forest City began as a crossroads on the Shelby-Rutherfordton and Spartanburg-Lincolnton Roads. Originally, the town was incorporated as Burnt Chimney in 1877. A replica near the site of the original chimney adorns the public square today. The "chimney" was the remains of the McArthur home that marked the crossroads.

The name was changed to Forest City in 1887, named after a prominent citizen, Forest Davis. The 1880 census counted 110 residents in the small crossroads town. By 1890, 419 people lived in Forest City - the increase was primarily due to the coming of the railroad and the building of the Florence Mill. By 1910, Forest City was a flourishing community with 1,090 residents with electric lights and water and 12 passenger trains daily.

In 1914, the Forest City Betterment Club embarked on a project to beautify the town's Main Street and today the original landscaped medians and fountain still exist. In 1927, the town was selected as one of the ten most beautiful and best planned towns in the United States by the US Department of Agriculture. By 1940, Forest City had 4,068 residents and had established itself as the commercial hub of the county.

Today, the population of Forest City NC is 7,450. The town remains the commercial hub, and the legacy of "community betterment" can still be seen in the pride the town and its residents take in keeping Forest City a beautiful and livable community
Source Forest City NC

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Archdale North Carolina

Archdale North Carolina

The City of Archdale is conveniently located in the middle of the Piedmont Triad. We are a forward thinking and forward moving community. Our location along Interstate 85 and the new Interstate 74 provides quick and easy travel to Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Piedmont Triad International Airport, and all points in between.

Our schools continue to excel at educating our future leaders. Our three elementary schools have achieved the “School of Excellence” award for the last two years. Creekside Park offers over 100 acres of recreational amenities, including: ball fields, greenways, tennis courts, and a recreational center. Our city also supports a state-of-art library and an active Senior Citizens Center. Our City Council and Chamber of Commerce are dedicated to attracting new economic development opportunities to our community.

While Archdale has experienced remarkable growth over the past several years, we have still managed to preserve the quaint, small town feel of our community. Whether you are a newcomer, visitor, or long time resident, we know you will find our community will meet your needs.

In the last five years the City has acquired several tracts of open space and natural areas adjacent to its Creekside Park creating approximately 100 acres of ballfields, greenways, natural areas, and other recreational facilities. The City has plans to construct miles of greenway in a system that will eventually connect to the yet-to-be-completed Randleman Lake. There also are several institutions of higher education with in easy access of Archdale. There are the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, North Carolina A & T University, and Greensboro College all of which are located in Greensboro, Guilford College (15 miles), High Point University (10 miles), campuses of Guilford Technical Community College within 5 miles at Jamestown and High Point, and a campus of Randolph Community College located at Creekside Park itself. Medical facilities include High Point Regional Health System which is located just 7 miles away in downtown High Point. Cornerstone Health Care and its wide-ranging medical services have various facilities located in both High Point and Archdale. Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital is located in Greensboro and internationally-recognized Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center is just 25 miles away in Winston-Salem. In addition, Duke University Hospital in Durham and UNC Memorial Hospital in Chapel Hill are located a mere one-hour drive away.
Source Archdale NC

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Wrightsville Beach North Carolina

Wrightsville Beach North Carolina

The town of Wrightsville Beach occupies one of the chain of barrier islands along North Carolina's southeastern coast. These islands, geologically relatively young, presented prior to urban development a combination of wide sandy beaches, dunes, and marine forests.

Westward of the long and narrow barrier islands are the sounds and marshlands where sea water continually flows in and out across waterways and wetlands. The barrier islands are in a state of constant transition because of natural forces.

The island of Wrightsville Beach today is 1,000-5,000 feet in width and stretches almost four miles from Masonboro inlet on the south to Mason inlet on the north.

This is a man-made configuration that may not stand the test of time. When North Carolinians named the island it was called New Hanover Banks, a sandy barrier cut by shallow Moor's Inlet. The northern portion was called Shell Island.

Today, Moore's Inlet is bulldozed and closed, and Lumina Avenue and a magnificent wide beach run the length of Wrightsville Beach.

On the mainland side of Wrightsville Beach European settlers encountered a sound nearly two miles wide, a stretch of waterways, marsh and small islands.

Dredging of the Intracoastal Waterway earlier in the 20th century produced sand and clay which were compacted to form a sizable island in the sound that was originally called The Hammocks--now Harbor Island--between the barrier island and the western shore of the sound, which is punctuated by creeks, tidal flats and marshlands.

The entire habitat--ocean and barrier island, sound and creeks, was originally rich with salt water and anadromous fish along with turtles, raccoons and even alligators.

The city limits of the town of Wrightsville Beach today encompass not only the barrier island but also Harbor Island and a small portion of mainland. "The Beach," or the island itself, once owned by the State of North Carolina and known as New Hanover Banks. It was transferred into private hands in three separate grants between 1791 and 1881.

Development, however, was slow, impeded by distance and lack of transportation other than by boat. The established port city of Wilmington on the lower Cape Fear River, a municipality founded in 1740, sits ten miles by land to the Southwest, but the early owners of portions of New Hanover Banks could only reach the area by traveling on oar-driven skiffs or sailing craft down to the mouth of the Cape Fear River and then northeastward up the sounds or coast.

For a century after the beach passed into private hands there were no residents, and the only visitors were fishermen, drawn to the area by the great numbers of Spanish Mackerel and Blue Fish, and hunters who used marsh lands to the west to hunt game hen and game birds.

Sailing became a popular pastime in the area, and frequent races led to the founding of the Carolina Yacht Club in April, 1853. Club members erected a clubhouse, the first structure on what began to be called Wrightsville Beach (after the Wright family who owned land on the nearby mainland) as their meeting place. The Carolina Yacht Club held dozens of races every year, and is now recognized as the third oldest yacht club in the United States.

The Civil War disrupted these events for a few years, as many members of the club and their boats went into military service. The waterways adjacent to Cape Fear were busy with traffic during the war, with blockade runners making their dangerous, usually nocturnal dash from the Atlantic into the mouth of the river on their way to the port of Wilmington.

At least three blockade runners are said to have foundered on Wrightsville Beach itself, one allegedly carrying a sword covered in jewels, meant for the Confederate President Jefferson Davis.

The inaccessibility of the area began to change in 1875, when a charter was granted for the construction of a turnpike connecting Wilmington to Wrightsville Sound. The passage was completed in 1887, completely topped by oyster shells, thus earning the nickname "the Shell Road."

Later that year a charter was granted to the Wilmington Seacoast Railroad Company to build a track to extend from Wilmington all the way to the Hammocks. With rail transportation to the Hammocks and a footbridge to Wrightsville Beach, development of the island began to accelerate.

Another yacht club was erected, two hotels and several beach cottages, the first apparently built by Col. F. W. Foster. The Hammocks attracted a popular hotel, the Island Beach, in 1897, and in 1889 the rail line was extended across the Hammocks and Bank's Channel to Wrightsville Beach where it then ran southward along a route now marked by South Lumina Avenue.

Hundreds of visitors from around the state of North Carolina began to arrive each summer. From 10th and Princess streets in downtown Wilmington the train (after 1902, electric trolley) ride to the beach took thirty minutes. Until the automobile era the "Beach Car" trolley was "the lifeline of Wrightsville Beach," in one resident's recollection. (4) On July 4, 1907, for example, 8,700 passengers were carried to the beach on the popular line.

On March 6, 1899, the residents incorporated the Town of Wrightsville Beach. The population at this time cannot be determined with accuracy, but probably was not more than 40 or 50, most of them seasonal dwellers who did not live on the beach year-round.

Their civic commitment was soon tested. The great hurricane of 1899 swept in from the Atlantic and destroyed virtually everything on Wrightsville Beach, including the train tracks that connected it to the mainland. Like Hazel in 1954, the storm struck during the exact hour of high tide, and sent huge waves across the beaches, inundating the island.

The spirit of the people of Wrightsville Beach rose to the occasion. The railroad was rebuilt the very next year, and the electric trolley cars (after 1902) carried thousands of visitors to a beach that was fast becoming a main attraction not only for the people of Wilmington and much of North Carolina but for tourists from New York and other eastern cities.

Hugh MacRae, president of the Tide Water Power Company, the parent company of the trolley line, added to the enticements of sun and sand by building an immense public pavilion at the final stop on the line.

Lumina was constructed on 200 feet of ocean frontage at Station #7, the end of the line, and opened on June 3, 1905. Costing $7,000 to build--a very large sum in that day-- Lumina's 12,500 square foot complex presented visitors with three levels of games and activities.

A bowling alley, shooting gallery and snack shop occupied the ground floor, and a broad staircase led up to the dance hall with balcony for the band and onlookers.

The instantly-popular Lumina was enlarged several times to accommodate the crowds, and a movie screen was erected fifty feet into the surf.

In 1911, over 600 tungsten lights were placed along Lumina's exterior, and television news commentator David Brinkley, born and raised in Wilmington, remembers in the late 1930s changing light bulbs in the eight-foot high sign LUMINA on the roof, making the facility a glittering landmark easily seen from the mainland or from ships at sea.

In 1935 the trolley era gave way to the automobile, when a two-lane bridge was built across the Intracoastal Waterway to Harbor Island and then over Bank's Channel to the beach.

The Great Fire of Wrightsville Beach, Jan. 28, 1934, destroyed over one hundred cottages as well as the Oceanic Hotel, though Lumina survived.

Her lights went out during World War II, as naval authorities feared that allied shipping might be silhouetted against the brightly illuminated building, to the benefit of German submarines.

But Wrightsville Beach was far from the sea lanes, protected from submarines by shallow offshore waters. German U-boat Commander Erich Cremer, interviewed in 1984, recalled the waters off Wrightsville Beach as "a shallow grave" that protected the area from the coastal U-boat activity that raised anxieties at other points on the Atlantic shore.

A population of approximately 110 year-round residents in 1930 grew to 1500 in 1945. David Brinkley tells us in his autobiography, David Brinkley: A Memoir, that Wrightsville was not a place only for the rich, like some of the beaches of Long Island, Florida, and elsewhere. "Wilmington residents of even modest prosperity could have a house in town and a shingled cottage built up on stilts on the beach....For a schoolboy with a summer job at the beach making a little money working as a soda jerk...with girls all around in swimsuits that then seemed skimpy, the beach, the surf, Lumina with big bands playing every night, it was heaven."

Mostly heaven. But nature had a way of punctuating the good life at the beach. On October 15, 1954, Hurricane Hazel struck the mainland at the North Carolina-South Carolina border,hitting at high tide and at full moon with estimated winds between 125-140 MPH at Wrightsville Beach.
A storm surge of 12-14 feet above mean low water mark destroyed between 100-250 houses--estimates vary-- and damaged 500 more, again tearing out the Carolina Yacht Club and the town sewer plant.

Again, Wrightsville residents rebuilt. The seven-story Blockade Runner Motor Hotel open in 1964, reflecting confidence in the future of tourism at the beach.

Lumina era, however, was coming to a close. Crowds had diminished with the end of the trolley line, the building deteriorated, and was judged unsafe and condemned by town officials in 1972.

Historian Rupert Benson reminisced: "The finest orchestras of the country...the Sunday school picnics...pictures over the water in the evening for everyone to enjoy, a grand era of good enjoyment passed on. The auto changed all this and what a mess."

There was no Wrightsville Beach Preservation Society or other group to mobilize public support for at least the documentation of the famous landmark, if not the preservation of part or all of it, and Lumina was demolished in 1973.

Recent decades have seen a gradual in-filling of development until few vacant lots are left. A towering Shell Island Resort with attached parking garage was constructed at the edge of the inlet on the north end of the island in 1984--too towering, many residents thought of the awkward, ungraceful structure, and too close to the inlet, it was learned in 1996 as Mason Inlet began to migrate southward and threatened to erode the building's foundations.

Three thousand people now live on the island during the off-season, and the arrival of warm weather greatly increases that number. What brings them to cherish this place, whether as residents or visitors for the weekend?

Wrightsville resident and historian Rupert Benson gave an apt description when he wrote of the mid-century years: "Sky and sea are ablaze with sunset splendor and the snowy crest of the breakers tipped with the colors of the sunset...makes one feel God left his hand here."

The Lord Giveth, but occasionally, even on the beach, the Lord Taketh Away. In the summer of 1996, two large hurricanes made landfall near the mouth of the Cape Fear River--Bertha, on July 12 and Fran, on September 5. Both the island's piers were sheared back, hundreds of homes and businesses were damaged, and the imposing dunes topped by seat oats were leveled all along the coast.

Again, Wrightsville Beach citizens regrouped, and rebuilt their community between the broad white beach and the marshes, waterways, and glowing sunsets to the west.

Benson captured this resurgent spirit when he wrote in the aftermath of the Great Fire of 1934: "Public minded citizens of the Beach rose up and sought a new day.
Source: Wrightsville Beach NC

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