Location: Alleghany County, 62 miles northwest of Winston-Salem
You can find: Stone Mountain and rich natural communities as you traverse the summit
Highlights: tent, trailer and RV camping; Hutchinson Homestead; waterfalls; bridle trails; trout fishing; backpack camping; Garden Creek Baptist Church
Location: Burke County, 70 miles east of Asheville
You can find: elevations up to 3,000 feet, mountain streams, and the rosebay rhododendron
Highlights: more than 40 miles of hiking, biking and bridle trails; backpack camping in the rugged backcountry; equestrian camping; High Shoals Falls; Jacob Fork River; visitor center
Location: Harnett County, 40 miles southwest of Raleigh
At the park, you can find: Raven Rock; rapids on the Cape Fear River; Northington Lock and Dam remains; creek tributaries; mountain laurel
Highlights at this access: hiking; mountain biking; full hook-up RV camping; backpack camping; cabins
Location: Surry County, 24 miles northwest of Winston-Salem
At the park, you can find: Pilot Knob, the Yadkin River, and ravens soaring above Big Pinnacle
Highlights at this access: tent and trailer camping; variety of hiking trails; rock climbing and rappelling; visitor center
Location: Washington County, 71 miles northeast of Greenville
At the park, you can find: wintering tundra swans from November to February; Lake Phelps; Somerset Place state historic site; Scuppernong River
Highlights at this access: historic sites and artifacts; long, easy trails around the lake; biking
Location: Ashe County, 36 miles northeast of Boone
At the park, you can find: 26.5 miles of the New River; the hellbender salamander; 14 rare and threatened species of flora
Highlights at this access: full hook-up RV camping; walk-in or paddle-in backpack camping; visitor center; easy to moderate hiking; community building
Location: Stanly County, 51 miles north of Charlotte
You can find: Morrow Mountain, one of the highest peak in the Uwharries, and bald eagles spotted from Lake Tillery
Highlights: hiking and bridle trails; Lake Tillery and the Yadkin River; Kron House; CCC structures, including the poolhouse; boat rentals
Location: Gates County, 10 miles south of the northeast border with Virginia
You can find: millpond more than 200 years old and the American alligator at the northernmost point of its range
Highlights: many types of camping; Lassiter Swamp; boat rentals; paddling trails
Location: Halifax County, 61 miles northeast of Raleigh
You can find: Lewis' heartleaf, mountain laurel, pyrite minerals, and the Neuse River waterdog
Highlights: hiking trails, bike trails, and bridle trails; primitive equestrian camping; fishing and paddling on one of the region's cleanest streams
Location: Columbus County, 40 miles west of Wilmington
You can find: Waccamaw Dam, the headwaters for the 150-mile river; the American alligator; and the Venus flytrap
Highlights: lakeside hiking; boat ramps and boardwalks to provide access to the 52 species of fish and numerous endemic animals in the lake