There is more art deco architecture built in the late 1920s and early 1930s that can be found in downtown Asheville than in any other Southeastern city outside of Miami, Florida.

Mount Mitchell is the highest point east of the Mississippi River at 6,684 feet, located about 20 miles northwest of Asheville. The state park is about five miles west of Blue Ridge Parkway milepost 365.

More motorists exit and enter the nation's most popular scenic highway, the Blue Ridge Parkway, in Asheville than at any other point along the road's 470 miles linking Shenandoah National Park in Virginia with Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina.

Nine of North Carolina's 11 major waterfalls are located near Asheville in neighboring Transylvania County. These include the eastern United State's highest, Whitewater Falls at 411 feet. 

Downtown Asheville is the site of Western North Carolina's center for education, arts and science: Pack Place. The Asheville Art Museum, Colburn Earth Science Museum and the Diana Wortham Theatre make their home at Pack Place, with the affiliated YMI Cultural Center located across the street at the corner of Eagle and Market streets.