Piedmont Region

The Piedmont Region fills the broad middle of North Carolina, the rolling plateau between the Blue Ridge Mountains to the west and the coastal plain to the east. Elevations run 300 to 1,500 feet, with hardwood forest on the ridges and the Yadkin, Catawba, and Neuse rivers cutting diagonally across. Mecklenburg County holds Charlotte, the state’s largest city; Wake County holds Raleigh; Guilford and Forsyth carry Greensboro and Winston-Salem; Durham and Orange counties round out the Research Triangle. Charlotte, Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, and High Point handle most of the urban traffic, with smaller anchors at Salisbury, Asheboro, and Pinehurst. Most travel here concentrates on the cities. Charlotte handles banking, sports, and the NASCAR Hall of Fame; the Triangle weights toward universities and museums; Winston-Salem holds Old Salem’s Moravian heritage and the Reynolda House. Pinehurst takes golf travel; the High Point furniture market draws design-industry visitors. The region is rarely the only destination — most visits combine it with the mountains or the coast.