Sports, Shopping, Theaters, Museums, Gardens, and Lakes in the Chapel Hill and surrounding areas...

College Sports in the Triangle

UNC Tar Heel Athletics

Basketball - Dean E. Smith Center

The 21,542 seat Dean E. Smith Center on the University of North Carolina campus is the home of the five time national champions, Tar Heels' men's basketball team. Smith Center also hosts concerts featuring musical superstars such as Eric Clapton, Celine Dion, Garth Brooks, and Elton John. Next door to the "The Dean Dome" is the UNC Basketball Museum.

Football - Kenan Stadium

The 62,000 seat stadium centrally located on campus is home to the Tar Heels' football team. The field house houses a football memorabilia room that is open daily for visitors. 

Duke University Athletics

Duke University, located in Durham, has one of the best college basketball programs in the county.

NC State University Athletics

The NC State Wolfpack, located in Raleigh, play football at Carter-Finley Stadium and basketball at the RBC Center.

North Carolina Professional Sports

Hockey - Carolina Hurricanes

The Canes play at the new RBC Center in Raleigh. In 2007, the Canes won the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history. 

Baseball - Durham Bulls

The Bulls AAA Baseball team for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. The team was featured in the motion picture Bull Durham. They play in the new Durham Bulls Athletic Park located off exit 12 of Durham Freeway. 

Football - Carolina Panthers

The Panthers play at Bank of America Stadium in downtown Charlotte, NC.  Charlotte is approximately a 2 hour drive from Chapel Hill.

Shopping

The Streets at Southpoint

The Streets at Southpoint is 1.3 million square feet of your favorite upscale stores, boutique shops, restaurants and a movie theatre. This award winning "main-street" style design offers both indoor and outdoor shops with individual storefronts for a unique shopping experience.  Southpoint is located just barely over the Chapel Hill line in Southwest Durham.

Theaters and Museums

PlayMakers Repertory Company (919-962-PLAY)

Now in its 22nd season, PlayMakers Repertory Company offers productions of classic and contemporary theatre to the citizens of North Carolina. During each season, which runs from September through May, PlayMakers presents six plays in the Paul Green Theatre, a 500-seat facility located on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill campus. The theatre was completed in 1978, and a 55,000 square foot addition opened in 1998.

Durham Performing Arts Center (919-688-3722)

The DPAC opened its doors in 2008 and has successfully transformed the Triangle into one of the Souths premier locations to take in a show or see your favorite musician perform.  The Durham Performing Arts Center seats 2,800, hosts an annual Broadway series, and has seen such performers as B.B. King, Bill Cosby, and Robin Williams grace the stage.

Chapel Hill - Museums

The Ackland Art Museum (919-966-5736)

The Ackland Art Museum exhibits from a permanent collection of more than 14,000 works of art from around the world. The Ackland's holdings are particularly rich in Old Master paintings and sculptures by artists such as Degas, Rubens and Pissarro; Indian miniatures; Japanese paintings; North Carolina folk art; and prints, drawings and photographs. In addition, the museum exhibits four to six temporary loan exhibitions annually. Admission is free.

The Morehead Planetarium (919-962-1247)

The planetarium is one of only a handful of planetariums in the country with a Zeiss Model VI projector which can project nearly 9,000 stars. The location, which was used as a NASA training center, now features a dome theater, science exhibits, and a massive sundial. The planetarium features star and laser shows for all ages.

Gardens

The Sarah P. Duke Gardens (919-684-3698)

Duke Gardens is recognized as one of the premier public gardens in the United States, renowned both for landscape design and the quality of horticulture, each year attracting more than 300,000 visitors from all over the world.

North Carolina Botanical Garden (919-962-0522)

The North Carolina Botanical Garden consists off over 600 acres of preserved land. The garden has the largest collection of native herbs and plants in the southeast. Admission is free.

Lakes

University Lake

Built by UNC-Chapel Hill in 1932, the 213 acre lake is a favorite outdoor recreation spot for Chapel Hill residents. The UNC rowing teams uses the reservoir as their main practice site. Picnicking, fishing, sunbathing, paddle boats, canoes, and rowboats are available activities. Because it is a drinking water source, swimming and gasoline-powered boat motors are not allowed in the lake. However, visitors may bring non-trailered boats such as canoes and kayaks.

Jordan Lake

The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission maintains a Bald Eagle observation platform located at the north end of this 13,900 acre lake, located just off Hwy 751. It has been estimated that Jordan Lake is the largest summer home to the Bald Eagle.  There are 9 recreation areas including campgrounds, boat ramps, foot paths, picnic tables and a sandy beach.