Ranking #29 out of 50, North Carolina isn’t one of the largest states. But it is one of the longest, stretching more than 500 miles from the Appalachian Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean. Two of America’s greatest scenic byways, the Blue Ridge Parkway and Outer Banks Scenic Byway, bookend a state with some of the best mountain and coastal landscapes in the United States, with world-class pottery in the center.