North Carolina boasts some of the most beautiful scenery in the United States. If you need to be reminded or convinced, travel some of the state’s scenic byways. The N.C. Department of Transportation has carefully selected 62 byway routes as interesting alternatives to the major highways and interstates.
The byway routes are separated into three regions: Mountains, Piedmont, and Coastal Plains.
You might also be interested in scenic drives for North Carolina fall color, 10 drive-through attractions in North Carolina, a photo guide to hiking 12 North Carolina State Parks, and a guide to 9 North Carolina waterfalls.
NCDOT offers the North Carolina Byways Guidebook as a free download.
On ncdot.gov/ScenicByways, download the pdf.
When you receive the 258-page book in the mail, there will be an envelope to make a donation to the program if you wish. (There’s not currently a way to donate on the website.)
The scenic byways are a way to get where you’re going, maybe a little bit more slowly, but with a lot more enjoyment. They’re not all a huge time commitment. Many are very short, just a few miles long, with drive times of under 30 minutes, so they’re just a little detour.
The listing for each byway includes:
- A map of the area, with the scenic byway highlighted
- Turn by turn directions
- The county or counties that you’ll visit
- The length of the byway
- Pictures
- Points of interest
Points of interest might include:
- Historical buildings
- State parks
- Charming downtowns
- Covered bridges
- Scenic vistas
- General stores
- Historic battlefields
- More
Whether you’re heading to the mountains, the beach, Charlotte or other parts of the state, this book will help you find natural beauty and interesting history along the way.
NC Scenic Byways in the Triangle
There are some scenic byways that are convenient to the Triangle, so you can easily explore them without taking a whole weekend. You might have passed near one without even knowing it.
A few of the scenic byways in or near the Triangle:
- Colonial Heritage Byway (Caswell, Durham, Guilford, Orange and Rockingham Counties)
- Football Road (Alamance, Guilford and Orange Counties)
- Devil’s Tramping Ground Road (Moore and Randolph Counties)
- Scots Welsh Heritage Byway (Orange County)
- North Durham Country Byway (Durham County)
- Averasboro Battlefield Scenic Byway (Cumberland and Harnett Counties)
- Clayton Bypass Scenic Highway (Johnston County)
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More Events
Check out our list of free and cheap events in Raleigh and the rest of the Triangle this weekend, or our full event calendar in the Triangle, or just look at few upcoming events here:
