Moses H. Cone Memorial Park on the Blue Ridge Parkway near Blowing Rock, North Carolina, was created to protect the country estate of Moses H. Cone, a textile entrepreneur, philanthropist, and conservationist. At its heart is Flat Top Manor, a 1901 Grand Colonial Revival mansion that is a 20-room, 13,000-square-foot gleaming white beauty. The mansion is surrounded by acres of forests, meadows, and wildflowers and lakes full of bass and trout.

There are 26 miles of carriage roads for horseback riding, walking, or biking and rangers offer tours of the house on weekends. The mansion, now the home of the Parkway Craft Center, offers handmade crafts by regional artists, who at times demonstrate crafts such as embroidery, quilting, weaving, woodcarving, pottery, and glass blowing to the public on the porch.

Blue Ridge Parkway, Blowing Rock, NC

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