Meteor Lakes Byway
Meteor Lakes Byway is a State Scenic Byway in North Carolina. Within North Carolina it covers roughly 40 miles. The map below shows its route. Use “Plan a drive” to open it in the Road Sorties route planner — already routing along Meteor Lakes Byway with scenic roads turned on, ready to add your own stops.
Meteor Lakes Byway crosses North Carolina's coastal plain from Bladen into Sampson County, linking oval lakes long rumored to be ancient meteor craters. The route runs through Bladen Lakes State Forest, passing Jones Lake and Singletary Lake, two of several Carolina bays in the area, mysterious oval depressions whose origin (meteor strike, wind and wave action, or some combination) is still debated among geologists. White Lake, another of these bays, sits just outside the state forest boundary and has long been a popular local swimming destination. The drive alternates between open farm fields and pocosins, the acidic, shrub-choked wetlands common to this part of the coastal plain, offering little in the way of towns or historic sites along the way. It ends near Spivey's Corner in Sampson County, a community best known as home of the National Hollerin' Contest, an annual competition rooted in the old rural practice of hollering across fields to communicate before telephones. State forest campgrounds provide the main reason to stop rather than just pass through.
- Bladen to Sampson County
- Carolina bay lakes (Jones, Singletary, White)
- Bladen Lakes State Forest
- pocosin wetlands
- Spivey's Corner Hollerin' Contest
- meteor-crater origin theory
Plan a drive on Meteor Lakes Byway →
What is a State Scenic Byway?
State Scenic Byways are roads a state has formally recognized for their scenic, natural, historic or cultural value — each state's own curated collection of drives worth taking slowly.
Where to Stay along Meteor Lakes Byway
No campgrounds are listed close to Meteor Lakes Byway yet, but there are rooms near the route.
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