Car Travel

While it's possible to use buses and trains for travel within the Piedmont and Sandhills, they're usually not convenient or fast. Interstates 40, 85, and 77, as well as several U.S. and state highways, offer easy access to most of the region's destinations. Traffic is an issue in the metropolitan areas during morning and evening rush hours, but it is light compared to conditions in larger U.S. cities.

U.S. 1 runs north-south through the Sandhills and the Triangle and is the recommended route from the Raleigh-Durham area to Southern Pines.

Charlotte is a transportation hub; Interstate 77 comes in from Columbia, South Carolina, to the south, and then continues north to Virginia, intersecting Interstate 40 on the way. Interstate 85 arrives from Greenville, South Carolina, to the southwest, and then goes northeast to meet Interstate 40 in Greensboro. From the Triangle Interstate 85 continues northeast and merges with Interstate 95 in Petersburg, Virginia.

Greensboro and Winston-Salem are on Interstate 40, which runs east-west through North Carolina. From the east Interstate 40 and Interstate 85 combine coming into the Triad, but in Greensboro, Interstate 85 splits off to go southwest to Charlotte. High Point is off a business bypass of Interstate 85 southwest of Greensboro.

U.S. 1 runs north-south through the Triangle and links to Interstate 85 going northeast. U.S. 64, which makes an east-west traverse across the Triangle, continues eastward all the way to the Outer Banks. Interstate 95 runs northeast-southwest to the east of the Triangle and the Sandhills, crossing U.S. 64 and Interstate 40, from Virginia to South Carolina.