Spend the Season Exploring Cabarrus County, NC

Fall has arrived! Load up your crew and finish the season strong with an unforgettable vacation.

Geared toward family fun, Cabarrus County is minutes north of Charlotte and known as “Where Racing Lives.” Along with motorsports attractions and events that can’t be beat, the area boasts exciting indoor activities to keep everyone entertained, cozy and connected.

Fall highlights include picking your own pumpkin, enjoying a seasonal craft beverage, and of course—racing! In addition to car shows and cruise-ins such as AutoFair and Cars & Coffee, highly anticipated motorsports events like the Bank of America ROVAL 400, NHRA Carolina Nationals, and World of Outlaws World Finals return to the Charlotte Motor Speedway complex. Looking for fall color? Along with showy foliage, Cabarrus County offers its own variety of fall color inside NASCAR Race Shops which showcase a colorful array of flags, paint schemes and confetti.

When fall color fades, millions of lights illuminate as Cabarrus County gets festive for the holidays. In addition to thrilling indoor attractions like iFLY Indoor Skydiving and K1 Speed electric karting, the fun heats up at Great Wolf Lodge. Inside, you’ll find an 80,000 square-foot waterpark kept at 84 degrees plus flurries in the lobby during Snowland! Wrap up holiday shopping and visit SEA LIFE Aquarium next door at Concord Mills, North Carolina’s largest outlet and value retail shopping center.

Then, add an exclamation mark to your experience at the 10th edition of Speedway Christmas, named a Top 20 event by the Southeast Tourism Society. This drive-through light course features 4 million LED lights along the 3.75-mile course with lights-to-music displays and a chance to drive your car on the legendary track. Visit Thursday-Sunday and enjoy the Christmas Village with Santa, smore’s and drive-in movies on the 16,000 square-foot HDTV. All located at Exit 49 off I-85 in Concord, this combination of holiday happenings conveniently sits alongside over 2,000 hotel rooms.

Plan your getaway today with this list of events. What are you waiting for? Find a place to stay and hit the road!