Visit McDowell County
Small doesn't mean remote.
Every locality has its charms and distinctions, and in McDowell County in western North Carolina the list is long and varied. The natural environment presents abundant recreational riches and draws many people to hiking, biking, water sports and other activities available only in an area with mountains, a lake and river.
In addition to environmental highlights, McDowell has other claims to fame: a gold mining hub, mountain music and furniture-making traditions, part of the Revolutionary War-era Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail, North Carolina’s sole public cavern, perhaps the world’s only livermush festival and Coats North America, the exclusive supplier of the red thread in Rawlings baseballs used in major league play.
All this bounty is in a county of about 45,000 residents 30 miles east of Asheville, the regional hub. McDowell is bordered on the north by the Blue Ridge Mountains, a range within the Appalachians. The mountains help buffer the county from harsh winters, so McDowell enjoys a more temperate climate than some surrounding localities.
The mountains provide McDowell with gems worth boasting about. The Blue Ridge Parkway is a 469-mile scenic highway through Virginia and North Carolina with 33 miles along McDowell’s northern boundary. Mount Mitchell, the tallest peak in the eastern United States, is located off the parkway in a state park nearby. Three-quarters of McDowell County’s land area is covered in forests, 67,000 acres of which are within Pisgah National Forest. Hardwoods create colorful mountain magic during the autumn foliage season.
Within Pisgah is Linville Caverns, open to the public. Legend holds that Civil War soldiers used the caves to hide from enemy troops.
The eastern Continental Divide, the point where surface water flows in opposite directions to the Atlantic Ocean and Mississippi River, is on the county’s northern border. McDowell’s waters have long drawn explorers. The Catawba River headwaters are near Old Fort in western McDowell, and the river crosses the county to feed Lake James, east of the county seat of Marion. The lake is the centerpiece of Lake James State Park, with about 150 miles of wooded shoreline.
McDowell’s scenic setting at once reinforces the comfort of home and the lure of awaiting adventures. The county’s small-town warmth and neighborliness draw businesses, tourists and new residents to Marion, Old Fort and other communities. One longtime business outside Marion is the furniture shop of Max Woody, a sixth-generation wood chair-maker who uses his grandfather’s 19th-century lathe.
Small doesn’t mean remote. McDowell is 90 miles north of Charlotte, North Carolina’s largest city, and about 275 miles north of Atlanta. And small doesn’t mean sleepy. Just ask the regulars at Old Fort Mountain Music, a free, longstanding weekly event on Friday evening where folks gather for bluegrass and traditional mountain music downtown.
Other lively events that distinguish McDowell County are the North Carolina Gold Festival, which commemorates the county’s mining activity in the 1800s, and the Livermush Festival, which draws the curious and the connoisseurs alike to celebrate a local delicacy processed from hogs. The festival includes such popular community-building events as the Little Miss Livermush pageant and livermush toss contest.
