This year sees North Carolina celebrate the Year of the Trail’.
From its section of the world’s longest hiking-only footpath to the 1,175-mile Mountains-to-Sea Trail, North Carolina deserves its “Great Trails State” moniker.
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the N.C. Trails System Act, 2023 will mark the Year of the Trail with events in each of the state’s 100 counties. Need a starting point? Try Hot Springs, where you can cross Bridge Street and claim an Appalachian Trail credit (the aforementioned “world’s longest”). Or Elkin, where the Mountains-to-Sea Trail intersects with paddling, mountain biking and other recreation. Or coastal Pettigrew State Park, where you can paddle as well as view Native American canoes dating back thousands of years.
As it celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2023, Carowinds theme park in Charlotte will open Aeronautica Landing, which draws inspiration from North Carolina’s First in Flight history. New rides arriving in the spring include the speedy Air Racer, the futuristic Hover & Dodge and the Air Walker, inspired by the Outer Banks setting where the Wright Brothers achieved powered flight in 1903.
In a grand reunion of moonshine and motorsports, NASCAR marks its 75th anniversary with a return to North Wilkesboro Speedway for the 2023 All-Star Race. The May 19-21 event will be the first sanctioned race in 27 years in the historic “moonshine capital of the world” and the place where stock car racing began. Known for its uphill backstretch and downhill front stretch, the short track has hosted more than 90 NASCAR events. Between now and the All-Star Race, travelers can visit a pair of legal moonshine distilleries, Copper Barrel and Call Family Distillers, owned by the son of storied bootlegger Willie Clay Call.
Two stars of the dinosaur world will take center stage in Raleigh with the November 2023 opening of “Dueling Dinosaurs,” a permanent exhibit at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences. The most complete fossils of a Tyrannosaurus rex and a Triceratops ever unearthed will be displayed. The museum is building a state-of-the-art research center, called SECU Dinolab, where the public can get a close-up view and meet scientists. The museum announced the acquisition of the T. rex and Triceratops in May 2020, 14 years after they were excavated at a Montana ranch.
The Carolina Aviation Museum will reopen in late 2023 on the Charlotte Douglas International Airport campus. The 10-acre tract includes the historic Southern Airways Hangar, where the “Miracle on the Hudson” plane and other exhibits have been stored. The Smithsonian affiliate museum boasts a collection of helicopters and commercial, military and civil aircraft.
Fifty years after its founding in Pinehurst, the World Golf Hall of Fame comes home in 2024 as part of the U.S. Golf Association’s second headquarters, called Golf House Pinehurst. The Hall of Fame’s arrival will dovetail with the U.S. Open’s return to the No. 2 course at Pinehurst Resort, which the USGA has designated as the tournament’s first anchor site. Golf House Pinehurst will include an immersive USGA Experience, a research center, a sustainability-focused outdoor learning landscape and a longleaf pine restoration forest as well as the Hall of Fame.
The Restoration Hotel. Set to open in early 2023, the six-story, 60-room hotel sits across the street from Pritchard Park, home to Asheville’s Friday night Drum Circle. The hotel will feature farm-to-table dining, rooftop and basement-level bars, and a coffee shop.
From Asheville Glamping comes a set of 18 “invisible” cabin suites featuring architectural mirrors that reflect the surrounding nature. In addition to hotel-style amenities, the property will outfit the outdoor space with a large deck, grill and pizza oven, fire pit and hot tub.
Zelda Dearest. Centering on the restoration of three historic homes, the hotel pays homage to Zelda Fitzgerald and husband F. Scott Fitzgerald. Zelda Dearest in Asheville, will include 20 rooms, and outdoor spaces. A summer 2023 opening is planned. F. Scott Fitzgerald spent two summers in Asheville while his wife was hospitalized in Highland Hospital, a sanitarium where she died in a 1948 fire.
The old Greene’s Motel, which dates to the 1950s, is being stylishly transformed into Rhode’s Motor Lodge. With an outdoorsy design and laid-back vibe, the 53-room property aims its appeal to family adventurers, outdoor enthusiasts and casual travelers. Plans include a restaurant, bar and outdoor gathering space.
Cataloochee Ranch, a well-loved rustic retreat that borders the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, will reopen for overnight stays in fall 2023. David and Annie Colquitt, who bought the Maggie Valley property in 2020, have undertaken an extensive renovation that includes redesigned interior spaces and new wrap-around terraces. Though the lodge has been closed, the Colquitts have continued to offer horseback rides, including lunch excursions to The Swag, their all-inclusive Relais & Châteaux property nearby.
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