Pee Dee Valley Drive
Pee Dee Valley Drive is a State Scenic Byway in North Carolina. Within North Carolina it covers roughly 15 miles. The map below shows its route. Use “Plan a drive” to open it in the Road Sorties route planner — already routing along Pee Dee Valley Drive with scenic roads turned on, ready to add your own stops.
Pee Dee Valley Drive runs nine miles between Badin and Norwood in North Carolina's Stanly County, tracing the Pee Dee River between two Piedmont lakes. The short byway parallels the river as it flows from Badin Lake south to Lake Tillery, staying entirely within Stanly County and the Uwharrie National Forest region. Morrow Mountain State Park sits along the route, offering hiking trails and river access within the ancient, worn-down Uwharrie Mountains. The Bethel Bear Creek United Church of Christ graveyard, with headstones dating to the 1820s, is one of the oldest burial grounds in the county and gives the drive a quiet historical marker among the farmland. The river's name comes from a Catawba word meaning something close to smart or capable, a legacy of the Native American presence that predates the lakes and dams now shaping this stretch of the Piedmont. It's one of the shortest byways in the Uwharrie region, easily combined with neighboring routes like Rolling Kansas or Uwharrie Scenic Road for a longer day trip.
- Badin to Norwood, Stanly County
- 9 miles
- Badin Lake to Lake Tillery
- Morrow Mountain State Park
- Bethel Bear Creek graveyard (1820s)
- Catawba word origin
Plan a drive on Pee Dee Valley Drive →
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 Pee Dee Valley Drive
6 campgrounds and RV parks sit within about 5 miles of Pee Dee Valley Drive.
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