North Carolina has quietly racked up an impressive screen CV. Wilmington — nicknamed "Hollywood East" or "Wilmywood" — has hosted so many productions that fans can plan an entire holiday around them, hopping between the state's beaches, mountains and small towns in the footsteps of their favourite shows.
Wilmington itself is the hub. Dawson's Creek may have been set in fictional Capeside, Massachusetts, but it was filmed here across its 90s run — Hell's Kitchen restaurant (Mollye's Market on the show), the Riverwalk, Airlie Gardens and the New Hanover County Arboretum are all doable on a self-guided tour. One Tree Hill used the city for all nine of its seasons: Michael's on the Waterfront, Thalian Hall, the New Hanover County Courthouse and Grace United Methodist Church (Brooke and Julian's wedding venue) are stops on walking tours, with Reel Café and The Dixie Grill still serving fans.
Prime Video's The Summer I Turned Pretty turned the southern beach towns into "Cousins Beach" — Carolina Beach, Kure Beach and Wrightsville Beach all feature, plus eateries like Benny's Big Time Pizzeria, Oceanic and Bespoke Coffee. The college scenes were shot at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Netflix's Outer Banks mostly filmed over the border in South Carolina, but the Enduro race scenes came from Fort Fisher State Recreation Area at Kure Beach and Copperhead Ranch in Rocky Point — and the real Outer Banks barrier islands, with their beaches, lighthouses and wildlife, remain a holiday draw in their own right.
Head inland and the mountains deliver too. A bend on Grandfather Mountain near Linville is now the "Forrest Gump Curve", where a few seconds of Forrest's famous run were shot. In Blowing Rock, Moses Cone Manor (Flat Top Manor) played the Georgia Pines nursing home in Stephen King's The Green Mile; the National Park Service arranges free tours of the 3,600-acre estate. And for 80s romantics, Lake Lure was the real location for Dirty Dancing despite its New York setting — you can climb the stairs where Baby carried a watermelon, see the salvaged dance floor at The Esmeralda Inn, and even sleep in themed rooms at the 1927 Lake Lure Inn & Spa, where Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey stayed during filming (choose Johnny's Cabin or Baby's Bungalow).
For anyone who loves mixing a beach or mountain break with a bit of pop-culture pilgrimage, North Carolina packs a lot into one state — one stretch of coastline covers the Summer I Turned Pretty and Outer Banks sites, while the Blue Ridge handles the movies. Visit North Carolina even publishes a set-jetting itinerary to tie it together.
