Cullowhee, North Carolina, the community that's home to Western Carolina University, sits in a scenic valley in the Appalachian Mountains of Western North Carolina. Each year, millions of visitors are drawn to the region by its spectacular landscapes and vast array of outdoor recreational opportunities, including world-class mountain biking, backpacking and whitewater rafting.
For more information on the region, visit the sites below. (Clicking on these links will take you away from WCU's Web pages. To return, use your browser's "Back" feature.)
A thirty-minute drive from campus will take you to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The National Park Service maintains an electronic visitor center.
Western Carolina University is surrounded by the beautiful mountains of Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests. Information is available at the Web site for all national forests in North Carolina.
The Appalachian Trail runs through the mountains only thirty miles from the campus.
One of the most scenic highways in the world, the Blue Ridge Parkway, is a twenty-minute drive from WCU. During the winter season, you can find out what sections of the road are closed by calling the Parkway office in Asheville at (828) 298-0398. When the recorded message begins, punch in 1, and then 3, to get to the road conditions recording.