Grassy Island Crossing

Grassy Island Crossing runs 26 miles through North Carolina's Pee Dee River country, from Cedar Hill to Ellerbe, where Uwharrie foothills meet the Sandhills. The byway takes its name from Grassy Island, a cluster of earthen masses in the Pee Dee River near the Anson/Richmond county line, north of Blewett Falls Lake. Along the route, pine and hardwood forest gives way to swamp and riverside farmland, and drivers can watch the landscape shift from the higher, older Uwharrie terrain into the flatter Piedmont that eventually becomes the Sandhills further south. The byway skirts the Pee Dee National Wildlife Refuge, where an observation blind lets visitors watch waterfowl working the marshland, and passes Blewett Falls Lake, with boat ramps and fishing access for anyone wanting to get on the water. At 26 miles, it's one of the longer byways in the Uwharrie/Pee Dee Lakes region, and one of the few in central North Carolina where the terrain itself, not a single town or landmark, is the main attraction.

• Cedar Hill to Ellerbe
• 26 miles
• Grassy Island (Pee Dee River)
• Pee Dee National Wildlife Refuge
• Blewett Falls Lake
• Uwharrie-to-Sandhills transition