2024's Best of North Carolina Picked by Readers + Followers

Published by Carl. .

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We are excited to announce the winners of 2024's Best of North Carolina Awards, chosen by NC Tripping's readers and social media followers.

This is our fourth annual Best of NC Awards, where we feature local businesses and destinations in North Carolina across four major categories, including:

Getaways
Outdoors
Food and Drink
Community

Jump to Winners

2021 Best of NC Awards Winners

2022 Best of NC Awards Winners

2023 Best of NC Awards Winners

Our readers and social media followers (aka you) nominated picks from November 10 to 24, 2024, followed by voting for the Best of NC from November 26 to December 15, 2024.

We’re excited to announce the winners after tallying more than 1,000 individual nominations and votes (no duplicates). Before doing so, we’ve organized this article into the following sections:

Categories
Best of NC Updates and Changes
Winners (Jump to Winners)

2024 Best of NC Updates and Changes

To continue improving The Best of NC, we made the following updates and changes to the awards for 2024:

“Getaways” Category
- Paused “Best Mountain Getaway” Out of Respect for our Friends in Western NC
“Outdoors” Category
- Removed “Best Lake”
“Food and Drink” Category
- Removed “Best Hot Dog”
“Community” Category
- Added “NC’s Strongest Community”

The Best of North Carolina 2024 Awards Winners

Before we announce the winners, we first want to thank everyone who participated, including the local businesses and destinations throughout the state, and you.

Now, without further ado, here is The Best of North Carolina 2024 as decided by our readers, followed by NC Tripping’s picks!

“Getaways” Category Winners

Our “Getaways” category featured some familiar names, close races, and an upset of a returning champion.

Most Romantic Destination in North Carolina

Winner: The Omni Grove Park Inn (Asheville)
Runner-up: Biltmore Estate (Asheville)
Finalists: The Swag (Waynesville) and The Umstead Hotel and Spa (Cary)
NC Tripping’s Pick: The Swag

The Omni Grove Park Inn in Asheville retained its title as the “Most Romantic Destination in North Carolina.” After a challenging year for much of Western NC, this is one of many well-earned wins for the region.

Help Western NC Businesses with Donations and Online Purchases

While we also love the Omni Grove Park Inn, the Swag in Waynesville won NC Tripping’s 2023 pick for the “Most Romantic Destination in NC.”

NC’s Best Family-Friendly Attraction

Winner and NC Tripping’s Pick: NC Zoo (Asheboro)
Runner-up: Tweetsie Railroad (Blowing Rock)
Finalists: Grandfather Mountain and Carowinds (Charlotte)

The NC Zoo in Asheboro repeats as the “Best Family-Friendly Destination” and as NC Tripping’s pick, too! It’s hard to argue with the world’s largest zoological park, especially the 60 percent of you who voted for this iconic attraction.

The best of the rest includes a few NC Tripping family favorites that will appear in other categories, possibly winning one or two of them!

NC’s Best Mountain Town (Paused for 2024)

Due to the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, we paused for 2024 and will hopefully return this category to next year’s Best of NC!

NC’s Best Beach Town

Winner: Emerald Isle
Runner-up: Carolina Beach
Finalists: Ocracoke and Atlantic Beach
NC Tripping’s Pick: Surf City

Emerald Isle retained its title for the “Best Beach Town” award, barely defeating runner-up Carolina Beach by TWO votes.

Ocracoke and Atlantic Beach are two of our favorite beach towns, and we’ll be re-exploring them next year to, uh, make sure they still live up to our expectations.

Surf City remains our favorite, and we’re open to any other NC beach towns willing to sway us!

NC’s Most Underrated Destination (Town or City)

Winner: Elkin
Runner-up: Wilkesboro
Finalists: Lincolnton and Fayetteville
NC Tripping’s Pick: Morganton

Surry County Wine Trail Elkin Creek Vineyards

Elkin dethroned close neighbor and last year’s winner Wilkesboro as the “Most Underrated Destination.”

Newcomer Lincolnton received an impressive amount of support, with longtime NC Tripping favorite Fayetteville not too far behind.

We spent a lot of time in Morganton this year, before and after Hurricane Helene, and think it’s an underrated place to visit and also an excellent gateway to Western NC.

“Outdoors” Category

The “Outdoors” category is filled with places that were impacted by Hurricane Helene, and we hope to revisit them all once they reopen.

For now, we recognize the Best of NC‘s Parks, Trails, and more, as voted for by our readers and followers.

NC’s Best Park

Winner: Grandfather Mountain
Runner-up: Chimney Rock State Park
Finalists: Stone Mountain State Park and South Mountains State Park
NC Tripping’s Pick: Nantahala National Forest

Grandfather Mountain retained its “Best Park” title, after a stiff challenge from Chimney Rock State Park, a place still recovering from Hurricane Helene, but still loved by all who know it.

Stone Mountain State Park and South Mountains State Park (home of High Shoals Falls) strongly represented in this poll, and we’ll hopefully see them challenging for “Best Park” in future Best of NC awards.

Our pick for 2024 is Nantahala National Forest, which earned our hearts after multiple adventures this year. One particular portion we love is also part of the Waterfall Byway, and includes the awesome Dry Falls, Bust Your Butt Falls, Cullasaja Falls, and more.

NC’s Best Trail

Winner: Catawba Falls Trail (Pisgah National Forest)
Runner-up: Profile Trail (Grandfather Mountain State Park)
Finalists: Deep River State Trail and Cape Fear River Trail
NC Tripping’s Pick: Deep Creek Trail (Great Smoky Mountains National Park)

Catawba Falls Upper Falls Image by NC Tripping — Upper Catawba Falls Pre-Helene.

Catawba Falls Trail reopened in 2024 after a lengthy closure due to massive safety improvements by the US Forest Service and local officials. Unfortunately, Hurricane Helene forced this popular trail to close again after severely damaging it.

As of this writing, the trail and many others in Pisgah National Forest remain closed as officials continue to rebuild and recover these public spaces. Helene also impacted Grandfather Mountain and the Profile Trail is closed at the time of writing.

We explored the developing Deep River State Trail this year, and were happy to see it appear here. The Faith Rock section near Asheboro is a real treat, and we highly recommend a visit!

Honestly, hiking hasn’t been at the top of our minds since Helene, but Christina and our oldest did enjoy a recent visit to the amazing Deep Creek Trail in Bryson City, so that’s our pick for this year!

NC’s Most Beautiful Waterfall

Winner: Linville Falls (Pisgah National Forest)
Runner-up: Looking Glass Falls (Pisgah National Forest)
Finalists: Mingo Falls (Cherokee) and Bridal Veil Falls (DuPont State Recreational Forest)
NC Tripping’s Pick: Courthouse Falls (Pisgah National Forest)

Linville Falls Fall in NC Hikes Image by NC Tripping — Linville Falls Pre-Helene.

Hurricane Helene heavily impacted Linville Falls, and we welcome its four-peat win of “NC’s Most Beautiful Waterfall” as a tribute and hope that it will reopen again someday.

Looking Glass Falls, Mingo Falls, and DuPont’s Bridal Veil Falls are all among our favorites, and we look forward to seeing them again soon!

Last year, we asked ourselves if a different NC waterfall could sway us from Crabtree Falls, and Courthouse Falls won after years of being our “white whale.” We refer to Courthouse Falls as such because we’ve wanted to visit for so long but things never lined up until 2024.

Do you agree with our pick?

“Food and Drink” Category Winners

“Food and Drink” is usually where the closest votes happen, and this year was no different.

If you remember Ketchupgate on NC Tripping’s Tiktok, then you know that restaurants and food are usually the most passionate topics on our website and social media pages.

With that said, let’s get to the best of the best food and drink in NC!

NC’s Best Breakfast Restaurant

Winner: The Table (Asheboro)
Runner-up: Dan’l Boone Inn (Boone)
Finalists: Cagney’s Kitchen (Wilkesboro and More) and MaryBill’s Cafe (Fayetteville)
NC Tripping’s Pick: Gogo’s Cinnamon Rolls (Old Fort)

The Table in Asheboro’s win for “Best Breakfast Restaurant” is honestly no surprise. Why?

During a recent trip to Asheboro, we stopped by The Table for breakfast and coffee to start our day. We arrived as early as we could, and there was still a line going out the door!

Thankfully, the wait wasn’t too long, and we could caffeinate and fill our bellies before moving on to the rest of our day.

Last year, a different Boone restaurant (Melanie’s) finished second, and Dan’l Boone Inn is this year’s Marsha Brady. Maybe next year, one of those amazing places to eat will break through and win!

After a recent revisit to Old Fort, Christina brought home some delicious cinnamon rolls from Gogo’s. After devouring them, we awarded the community pillar a second consecutive “NC Tripping’s Pick” for this category.

NC’s Best Barbecue Restaurant

Winner: Lexington Barbecue (Lexington)
Runner-up: JD’s Smokehouse (Rutherford College and Lenoir)
Finalists: Parker’s (Wilson and Greenville) and Sam Jones (Winterville and Raleigh)
NC Tripping’s Pick: Haywood Smokehouse (Dillsboro, Franklin, and Waynesville)

Lexington Barbecue Day Trips from Raleigh NC

There was a huge shift in “Best Barbecue Restaurant,” with none of last year’s Top 4 making it to the final vote. This was another win for Western/Lexington-style Barbecue, dealing a blow to fans of Eastern-style Whole Hog Barbecue.

Lexington Barbecue won a majority of votes, with JD’s Smokehouse leading the rest of the field.

After visiting all of Haywood Smokehouse’s locations throughout the years (and in 2024), we couldn’t think of a better place.

We know this is one of the most hotly debated topics in the state, and we went with the runner-up for our pick. Who makes your favorite barbecue in NC?

NC’s Best Ice Cream Shop

Winner: Howling Cow Dairy (Raleigh)
Runner-up: Riverbend Creamery (Lincolnton)
Finalists: Boombalatti’s (Wilmington and Hampstead) and Andia’s (Cary, Durham, and Raleigh)
NC Tripping’s Pick: Boombalatti’s

Howling Cow Dairy Raleigh NC Restaurants

Howling Cow Dairy in Raleigh retained its title for “Best Ice Cream Shop,” barely eeking out a victory over category newcomer Riverbend Creamery of Lincolnton.

2022’s winner (and this year’s “NC Tripping’s Pick”) Boombalatti’s and Andia’s rounded out the finalists.

NC’s Best Burger

Winner: The Cardinal (Boone)
Runner-up: Franklinville Diner
Finalists: BBQ King (Lincolnton) and Nick’s Old Fashioned Hamburger (Lexington)
NC Tripping’s Pick: Franklinville Diner

Restaurants in Boone NC The Cardinal Image

“Best Burger” was another close vote, The Cardinal (Boone) winning by a hair over the Franklinville Diner—our pick.

BBQ King (another Lincolnton finalist) and last year’s winner Nick’s Old Fashioned Hamburgers in Lexington finished not far behind.

With such a close result, we want to know your pick for the Best Burger in NC!

NC’s Best Brewery

Winner: Four Saints Brewing Co. (Asheboro)
Runner-up: Highland Brewing (Asheville)
Finalists: New River Brewing (West Jefferson) and Dirt Bag Ales Brewery & Taproom (Hope Mills)
NC Tripping’s Pick: Hillman Beer (Asheville, Morganton, and Old Fort)

Four Saints Brewing Asheboro NC Breweries Image by NC Tripping

Last year, Four Saints in Asheboro took the early lead, but eventually lost the title of “Best Brewery.” This year, they did not relinquish their hold over our readers and followers.

Highland Brewing (Asheville), New River (West Jefferson), and Dirt Bag (Hope Mills) are all worthy finalists, and we look forward to sampling their seasonal creations along with some familiar favorites.

All of these breweries are welcome in the NC Tripping household, but Hillman Beer stands out among the rest for us this year.

Seeing their Old Fort location reopen after Helene brought big smiles to our faces. We look forward to watching the town get back on its feet in 2025 and beyond!

NC’s Best Winery

Winner: Linville Falls Winery
Runner-up: Duplin Winery (Rose Hill)
Finalists: Raffaldini Vineyards & Winery (Ronda) and Divine Llama (East Bend)
NC Tripping’s Pick: Jones von Drehle (Thurmond)

Yet another close vote in this category, “Best Winery” goes to Linville Falls Winery.

Last year’s runner-up, Duplin Winery, put up a good fight, though, only losing by FOUR votes. Maybe next year?

Raffaldini and Divine Llama round out this strong group of wineries, and we look forward to visiting them all in 2025!

As regular customers of Jones von Drehle and subscribers to their Wine Box, we had to pick this awesome Yadkin Valley winery.

NC’s Best Cidery

Winner: Appalachian Mountain Brewery (Boone)
Runner-up: Bull City Ciderworks (Durham and Lexington)
Finalists: Flat Rock Cider Company and Molly Chomper Hard Cider (Lansing)
NC Tripping’s Pick: James Creek Cider House (Cameron)

The first winner of “Best Cidery” is a familiar name on the beer circuit, but also a cider heavyweight. AMB is another win for Boone, and not the last for the High Country, as you’ll see soon!

Bull City Ciderworks placed a respectable second, followed by Flat Rock Cider Company and Molly Chomper.

We see cider as an emerging industry and look forward to seeing who will win next year!

NC’s Best Distillery

Winner: Call Family Distillers (Wilkesboro)
Runner-up: BHawk Distillery (Southern Pines)
Finalists: Old Nick Williams Co. Farm & Distillery (Lewisville) and Weldon Mills Distillery (Weldon and Durham)
NC Tripping’s Pick: End of Days Distillery (Wilmington)

North Carolina DIstilleries Call Family Distillers Wilkesboro

Every year, Call Family Distillers has made the finals, but in 2024, they finally broke through and won “Best Distillery”!

Carl was in Wilkes County for the NASCAR All-Star Race this year, and he stopped by Call for a drink and some yummy food. Maybe that encounter pushed them over the top for the win? Carl will always take credit when there’s an opportunity.

The other finalists were all newcomers and we look forward to investigating them further either at the source (their distilleries) or at our local ABC store. Drink responsibly.

End of Days is an NC Tripping favorite and their spirits powered the winning cocktail in this year’s NCRLA Chef Showdown,

“Community” Category Winners

The final category is “Community,” and it’s probably the most heartwarming of them all. This is where we give shoutouts to local business-led destinations and a little team spirit.

For 2024, we close things out with a nod to NC’s strongest community. Any guess who won?

NC’s Best Sports Team

Winner: Appalachian State University Football
Runner-up: Carolina Hurricanes
Finalists: NC State University Women’s Basketball and Fayetteville Woodpeckers
NC Tripping’s Pick: NC State University Men’s Basketball

App State might have changed coaches after the season, but their fans are well-represented among our readers and followers.

The Carolina Hurricanes made it to the second round of the NHL Playoffs and the Fayetteville Woodpeckers prepped some future Houston Astros for the Show in 2024. No comments on latter’s season. IYKYK, right?

It was the NC State University Wolfpack Women who had the most successful 2024 of our finalists. They made it to the 2024 Final Four, before losing to Lower Carolina.

We would’ve picked the Wolfpack Women, too, if not for the Men’s side. NC Tripping loves a good rollercoaster, and the NC State Men’s basketball team took us for a ride in 2024.

They won the ACC Tournament as a 10 seed, defeating UNC in the championship game.

As an 11 seed, the Wolfpack made an improbable run to the Final Four, beating Duke in convincing fashion along the way.

NC’s Best Downtown

Winner: Blowing Rock
Runner-up: Asheville
Finalists: West Jefferson and Brevard
NC Tripping’s Pick: Franklin

Blowing Rock wins yet another Best of NC Award for the High Country, retaining its title as “Best Downtown.” Asheville placed second for the second straight year, and Western NC neighbors Brevard and West Jefferson rounded out the finalists.

During a lengthy stay in the mountains this summer, we spent a lot of time in Franklin, and really came away thinking it could be in the running for “Most Underrated Destination” next year.

For now, we’ll give it the nod for “Best Downtown.”

NC’s Best Dog-Friendly Destination

Winner: Wrightsville Beach
Runner-up: Raleigh
Finalists: Morganton and Fayetteville
NC Tripping’s Pick: We Don’t Have a Dog

Wrightsville Beach picked up a win for the coast, as the “Best Dog-Friendly Destination.”

Until our pet situation changes, this is the only category where we didn’t make a pick. Don’t worry though, because we’ll continue to let the experts who have dogs decide.

If you have a good boy (or girl), what’s your pick for NC’s best dog-friendly destination?

NC’s Best Annual Festival

Winner: Merlefest (Wilkesboro)
Runner-up: Cheerwine Festival (Salisbury)
Finalists: NC Apple Festival (Hendersonville) and NC Pickle Festival (Mount Olive)
NC Tripping’s Pick: Woolly Worm Festival (Banner Elk)

Merlefest was much drier in 2024 than in previous years, which might’ve helped it retain the title of “Best Annual Festival.”

This is the third win for Merlefest, in a very crowded field that features Cheerwine, pickles, and apples—three of our favorite food groups!

The town of Banner Elk was hit hard by Helene, and its famed Woolly Worm Festival transformed into a two-city scavenger hunt, which we attended in Raleigh. Charlotte was the other participant, and we’d love to hear from you if you joined the fun in either place!

NC’s Best Museum

Winner: Museum of Life and Science (Durham)
Runner-up: NC Transportation Museum (Spencer)
Finalists: Blowing Rock Art & History Museum and the Airborne and Special Ops Museum (Fayetteville)
NC Tripping’s Pick: Discovery Science (Charlotte)

Durham NC Museum of Life and Science Dinosaur Trail Image

Durham’s Museum of Life and Science finally took home the prize for “Best Museum” after making the finals every year before. This is the closest museum to our house and we won’t disagree with this win at all.

Everyone else was a newcomer, and we were excited to see them here and in person in 2024.

Charlotte’s Discovery Science won us over this year, and is one truly impressive children’s museum!

Were any of these your favorite museums in NC this year?

NC’s Best Small Business

Winner and NC Tripping’s Pick: Morganton General Store
Runner-up: Burnette’s Country Store (Spruce Pine and Burnsville)
Finalists: The Pickle Fetish Company and Museum (Lincolnton) and A Bit of Carolina (Fayetteville)

This penultimate category is our favorite because this is where the backbone of North Carolina gets to shine. Our locally owned businesses are the heartbeat of our communities, and Morganton General Store has always been a shining example.

Just a few days after Helene passed through, I saw that Swede’s Cafe upstairs was open and stopped by to grab some breakfast for friends who had just gotten their power back.

Just like always, the food didn’t disappoint and remains one of the brightest spots during that dark period after Helene, which is still impacting communities throughout Western NC.

Burnette’s Country Store and the rest of the Spruce Pine and Burnsville communities are heavy on our minds, too.

A Bit of Carolina (Fayetteville) also made the finals this year. They won the first “Best Locally-Owned Business” in 2021 and remain a strong component of the Fayetteville community.

Finally, we want to give a big shoutout to Lincolnton for all the support their town and businesses received. The Pickle Fetish Company and Museum received the most nominations and made a respectable showing as a finalist here.

NC’s Strongest Community

Winner and NC Tripping’s Pick: Western North Carolina (and All Who Have Come to Help, Donated, Etc.)

Western NC Community American Flag Pulled from Marshall NC

We thought about allowing this final category (NC’s Strongest Community) to go to a vote, but it didn’t seem right this year.

Since late September, we’ve seen so many acts of kindness from people throughout North Carolina and beyond.

That’s why we award NC’s Strongest Community to Western North Carolina and anyone who has helped, donated or contributed to the recovery after Helene made landfall.

The work is not over, but we know that Western NC is strong and will recover.

How to Help Western NC Relief and Recovery Efforts

Who’s Your Best of NC?

Again, we want to thank you and everyone who participated in this Best of NC Awards. We love sharing our passion for this wonderful state we call North Carolina with you.

While we wait to launch 2025’s Best of North Carolina, stay tuned for more adventures, followed by articles and social media posts from us. You can also subscribe to receive our weekly email newsletter.

In the meantime, what do you think of these winners? Also, what categories would you like to see next year?

Please let us know here in the comments.

Don’t forget to share your picks for the Best of NC in our North Carolina Travel Facebook Group!

More of The Best of NC

We have featured these Best of North Carolina award winners and finalists in many of our NC Travel Guides. Here are some guides to help you explore this amazing state.