McDowell County Overview

   McDowell County is where the Mountains become Foothills; the southeastern half of it is Piedmont but the northwestern portion, with the Blue Ridge Parkway pretty well defining the northern border of the County, is most definitely mountains.
   The primary tourist attractions in McDowell County are the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Catawba River, Lake James (an impoundment of the Catawba), Little Switzerland and Linville Falls and Linville Caverns on the Burke County border.

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   I-40 bisects the county and ties Marion, the county seat, to Asheville in the west and to Morganton and Hickory in the east. US-221, NC-80 and NC-226 are all busy during tourist season (which is most of the year) carrying these folks to and from I-40.
   Marion is the business center as well as the county seat. There is a lot of shopping especially along US-70 north of Marion. Marion doesn't quite have the small town atmosphere nor does one feel like it is a city. It is sort of a pleasant in-between.