North Carolina Road Basics

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  Open a paper map of North Carolina or feed the state's name into a service like Google Maps, and take a good look. The state features a fairly intricate web of interstates and other roads, but nothing a smart traveler can't figure out.
  
  Four major interstate routes pass through North Carolina: I-40, I-77, I-85 and I-95. Remember, even-numbered interstates generally go east and west, while odd-numbered ones go north and south.
  
  Other important roads include I-26, which cuts through the western part of the state; I-74, which crosses part of central North Carolina; US 64, US 264, US 70 and US 421, all of which connect the central part of the state with the coast; and US 17 and North Carolina state highways 12 and 24, roads that parallel the Atlantic Ocean along much of the state's long and picturesque coast.
  
  

Interstates

• The interstate system will take you to all of North Carolina's major cities and a lot of other places besides.
  
  I-40 connects the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in western North Carolina with the Winston-Salem-Greenboro metro area in the middle of the state and then bends down to Raleigh-Durham, another major metro area. From there it goes to the coast at Wilmington. It is the only interstate to reach the coast in North Carolina, and the only one to reach as far as California going the other direction.
  
  I-77 goes north and south in western North Carolina, passing through the major metro area of Charlotte. Its northern terminus is Cleveland, and its southernmost point is in Charleston, SC.
  
  I-85 connects Raleigh-Durham with Greensboro-High Point and then Charlotte. In total, I-85 runs from central Virginia to central Alabama.
  
  I-95, the Eastern Seaboard interstate that runs from Maine to Florida, crosses eastern North Carolina but not really that close to the ocean, passing through Fayetteville.
  
  

Other N.C. Roads

• Interstates might be faster, but for a more thorough look at North Carolina, try some of these other roads.
  
  US 64 and US 19, both in extreme western North Carolina. Most of their routes run through the picturesque Nantahala National Forest, near the Great Smoky Mountains.
  
  A leg of the Blue Ridge Parkway also runs through the western part of the state, with one terminus near the border with Tennessee. It's a scenic road, not a fast one.
  
  US 64 runs from central North Carolina to the coast near Kill Devil Hills, where the Wright Brothers first flew.
  
  North Carolina Highway 12 traverses the incomparable Outer Banks.