North Carolina

The movie is about moonshiners being chased by government agents and staring bad boy Robert Mitchum. BTW building souped-up cars to out-run the revenuers is the origin of stock car racing.
A good view is from the top of Whiteside Mountain via a road, and there is a road that goes in front of the cliff face. Back in the day, I did rock climbing on many of the cliffs.

You can pan for gems in Franklin, at least you could 55 years ago. Northeast of Asheville is Mount Mitchell highest one in the east, Linville Gorge where you can look for the Brown Mountain Lights, and Grandfather Mountain for another good view.
There are many interesting places just south of Highlands in South Carolina, but I would never recommend that anyone go to South Carolina.