Over 19,000 votes poured in to Blue Ridge Outdoors magazine’s 13th annual Top Adventure Towns contest. From 100 adventure hubs across the southeast and mid-Atlantic, readers narrowed down nominees in four different categories: tiny town (population less than 3,000), small town (population 3,001-16,000), medium-sized town (population 16,001-75,000), and large town (population 75,001+).
This year, readers selected Cherokee, N.C. (tiny town), Gatlinburg, Tenn. (small town), Charlottesville, Va. (medium town), and Asheville, N.C. (large town), as their favorites. All four will be featured in Blue Ridge Outdoors’ adventure towns coverage in the magazine’s November issue, hitting stands now.
All 100 towns in the contest received tremendous support from readers across the region. The field was stacked with well-known outdoor hubs, from tiny towns to major metropolises, featuring a mix of mountain biking meccas, whitewater oases, climbing paradises, and hiking nirvanas. The runners-up in each category in 2024 were Blowing Rock, N.C., and Elkton, Va. (tiny town), Brevard, N.C., and Clifton Forge, Va. (small town), Sevierville, Tenn., and Boone, N.C. (medium town), and Roanoke, Va., and Charleston, S.C. (large town).
“We are thrilled by the continued enthusiasm for the outdoors and our readers’ passion for adventure and travel,” says Leah Woody, Publisher of Blue Ridge Outdoors. “The Top Adventure Towns contest highlights the rich variety of outdoor destinations across the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast, and we’re excited to inspire travelers from all walks of life to explore the incredible beauty of our region and the vibrant communities that call it home.”
- Blue Ridge Outdoors magazine release
