The Triad is the collection of cities to your west. They are Greensboro, Winston-Salem, and Hight Point. Think of them as a little Triangle. The Sandhills is the region to your east and south towards Fayetteville and Jacksonville. It is part of the coastal plain of NC and the land is very sandy. There are hills that were sand dunes many eaons ago that have compacted to "sandy hills" hence the name. The Triangle sits on "The Fall Line" or a region of the state which begins the are that is called the Central Piedmont. From where you are going east, the land falls rapidly going into the Coastal Plains. Going west, you slowly rise into the foothills and then suddenly into the Appalachians and Smokies. There are many waterfalls of various heights around the Triangle. The area got the name "The Fall Line" as traders moved inward on the rivers for exploration and expansion during the colonial period. It was on that artifical boundry line they had to move from the Rivers to the Land to continue traveling for a few miles until they could return to the Rivers. Most of the Cities in the Triangle were formed becuse of this and became natural way stations in the western expansion.