These NC counties lie in both the Piedmont and Mountain Regions. As a result, I consider them as "foothill" counties. One thing to keep in mind is that the NC mountains are not that high, so you're not going to have the type of spectacular long-range views that are commonly found in places within sight of the Rockies out west.
As far as the names of towns, you can use City-Data for a list of cities/towns for the counties below.
Foothill Counties
Surry
Wilkes
Caldwell
Burke
McDowell
Rutherford
Polk
Another option is to actually live in the Mountain Region, since most of the cities and towns aren't actually on a mountainside, but are located in valleys. That way you could have a 360 degree view of the surrounding mountains.
There are also some lesser mountain ranges that are
not located in Western NC's Mountain Region:
Uwharrie Mountain Range - Randolph, Montgomery, Stanly and Davidson counties.
Sauratown Mountain Range - Stokes county.
Brushy Mountain Range - Alexander, Iredell and Yadkin counties.
Cane Creek Mountain Range - Alamance, Guilford, Randolph and Chatham Counties.
Caraway Mountain Range - Randolph and Davidson counties.
I'm sure others will have additional opinions.
County High Points
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WNC - Eastern most Town with Mtn. Views
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