Scenic Drives

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Hanging Rock Scenic Byway - Piedmont Scenic Drives

From U.S. 52 follow N.C. 65 North from Winston-Salem. Drive towards Rural Hall through an area settled by Germans after the Revolutionary War. At the intersection of N.C. 65 and 66, turn left and follow N.C. 66 North to Mt. Olive. The byway begins where Denny Road (S.R. 2000) intersects N.C. 66.

Follow N.C. 66 for about 4.5 miles to the community of Gap, where the road forks. On the way, pass through the community of Mt. Olive, named for a local church (not to be confused with Mount Olive in Wayne County).

Follow the right fork, Moore’s Springs Road (S.R. 1001), just northwest of Hanging Rock State Park. For an interesting side trip, travel into the 6,192-acre park or to the lookout tower for a wonderful panoramic view of the area. The park is named for an unusual natural quartzite outcrop which is a part of the ancient Sauratown Mountains.

Geologists will be interested in deposits of itacolumite, a flexible sandstone found only here and in Brazil. Also in the park are the Cascade Falls which have a double drop of 200 feet in the upper cascade and 60 feet in the lower cascade (pictured here). The falls were discovered by Lewis David Von Schweinitz, a Moravian mycologist and botanist. Look for Tory’s Den, a cave below the Moores Knob bank, said to have been occupied by Tories (colonists loyal to the king) during the Revolutionary War.

Continue on S.R. 1001 past Moores Springs to N.C. 89 West. Turn right to venture into Danbury (listed in the National Register of Historic Places) for a peek at an upper piedmont/mountain town. Founded in 1849, Danbury is located on the Dan River at the foot of the Sauratown Mountains. It was named for North Carolina Governor Alexander Martin’s plantation which was in nearby Rockingham County. The community originally was an Indian village which became a trading post called Crawford. Before the Civil War a major iron foundry was located here. North Carolina’s tribute block in the Washington Monument came from a quarry near here.

Return to the byway following N.C. 89 West through the Sauratown Mountains. Named for the Saura Indians who once inhabited the area, these mountains are some of the oldest mountains in North America. The route ends at McBride Road (S.R. 1742) in the Shelton Town community east of Mount Airy. Mount Airy is home of Andy Griffith’s fictional Mayberry.

A sheet granite quarry is located on the northeast side of town. This granite was used in the Wright Memorial monument in Kill Devil Hills on the Outer Banks.

Nearby attractions include Pilot Mountain State Park and the Blue Ridge Parkway. Pilot Mountain is an isolated peak, a quartzite monadnock remnant from the erosion of the Sauratown Mountains. It was once called “Mt. Ararat,” from which the Ararat River flows. The closest access to the Blue Ridge Parkway is about 15 miles north of Mount Airy at Fancy Gap, Virginia.

Length: 38 miles
Driving Time: 1 hour
Counties: Stokes, Surry

courtesy of NC Department of Transportation

added: September 15, 2009

updated: September 25, 2009