Skip to main content

Down to Wilmington...via NC Bike Route 5

Headed down to Wilmington to hang out with my friend Joe, and instead of taking I-40 or any of the other routes (US 421, US 117, or NC 50) that I have done over the years. I tried something different. I followed NC Bike Route 5 - The Cape Fear Run - from Apex to Wilmington. Most of the major statewide bike routes follow secondary routes so it was a great opportunity to see some back roads.

For photos from the entire day, head to my flickr site.

But first, for sometime now there's been an 'END' I-440 shield at where the Beltline meets US 1/64 and I-40, but this time I finally made the time to take a photo of it.

Now, this 'END' sign is actually located on the collector/distributor ramps for Exit 1.

Bike Route 5 Begins/Ends in downtown Apex - It even has an 'END' sign of its own.

This was actually my first time in Downtown Apex...and I certainly will come back to check out the town more often.

There were plenty of small churches throughout the route and I would have loved to taken photos of many of them. But with many of them holding mass at the time I passed by them, I didn't think it would be right to be taking photos around a church while mass was being held.

However in Buies Creek, this small Baptist Church wasn't serving mass until 6:00 pm, so I stopped and took a few photos, and took a few photos of the blooming azaleas as well.


Bike 5 runs along NC 82 for a bit and past the Averasboro Battleground, so I stopped to get a few more photos from the Chicora Cemetery.


Cumberland County still uses concrete pylons at many intersections as an earlier version of standard street signs. Here's an example at Bethany Crossroads.

Now in North Carolina, it is very rare to find an 'embossed' sign of any type. But in the small community of Kelly at the Post Office there are not one but three embossed 'STOP' signs. I've also included a photo of an older 'YIELD' sign for your enjoyment.

One of the mysteries I hoped to solve on this trip was where NC 210 changes from North/South to East/West. I originally thought it was at NC 53 near Kelly, but I was wrong.

After leaving its short multiplex with NC 53, NC 210 remains North/South. Later on the trip, I learned that the North/South change over to East/West occurs at the Bladen/Pender County Line.

Once in Wilmington, Joe and I headed around town and found a couple of great bridges and old buildings that will be featured in Carolina Lost.

First this bridge that carries 6th St. over a former rail line or canal.


Then the former Independent Ice Company which sits right next to the bridge.


This great old Philco Furniture sign.

Then this gorgeous former Presbyterian Church that now sits shuttered. Local community groups want to restore it as an Arts Center. It's great to see such an awesome structure like this being preserved.




Another great church in the same neighborhood is the St. Stephens A.M.E Church.


Afterwards we heads to the Smith's Creek Swing Bridge on Castle Hayne Road. This once carried NC 133 and maybe a few other routes.




Crossed over this truss bridge that carries NC 11 over the Cape Fear River.

And finally came across this odd sign on Old NC 87 in Acme.

It was a great trip with over 150 photos taken. I got a lot of items for Carolina Lost and plenty of new small towns for the Crossroads Project. Hopefully, I'll be debuting that blog or website soon.

Comments

Unknown said…
I'm thinking about making the trip in the opposite direction- I'm in Wilmington and want to bike to Burlington, NC.

That church on 4th Street has been completely restored and repurposed. It
s now one of the nicest concert/wedding venues in the state. You wouldn't hardly recognize it!
Unknown said…
hey i have never use bike route 5. but as one of my cycling goals is to bike from cary nc to willmington. is route 5 the best way to go? does it have dirrections where to turn ever time?
thanks for the help guys
Adam said…
Manny:

I wouldn't be the best judge to whether or not it is the best way to go via bike. I will say once you get outside of Cary/Apex/Fuquay it is a very enjoyable rural ride. It is signed rather well but I would still include a map or have a print out of directions for reference.
ncveloman said…
If you can get a copy of DeLorme's Street Atlas for North Carolina (the print version), it has all of the NC DOT bike routes marked. It makes a great backup for the street signs.

Popular posts from this blog

Chowchilla Mountain Road to Yosemite National Park

Chowchilla Mountain Road of Mariposa County is one of the oldest roadways servicing Yosemite National Park.  As presently configured this fourteen-mile highway begins at California State Route 49 near Elliot Corner and terminates at the Wawona Road in Yosemite National Park.  Chowchilla Mountain Road was constructed as a franchise toll road over Battalion Pass circa 1869-1870.  The highway was built at behest of Galen Clark to connect the town of Mariposa to his property near the South Fork Merced River at what is now Wawona.   In late 1874 the highway along with Clark’s Station would be purchased by the Washburn Brothers.  The Washburn Brothers would continue to toll Chowchilla Mountain Road as part of their Yosemite Stage Route lines.  The highway would ultimately become a Mariposa County public highway in 1917.  Mariposa would later be more directly linked with Yosemite Valley in 1926 following the completion of the Yosemite All-Year Highwa...

Interstate 40's Tumultuous Ride Through the Pigeon River Gorge

In the nearly 60 years Interstate 40 has been open to traffic through the Pigeon River Gorge in the mountains of Western North Carolina, it has been troubled by frequent rockslides and damaging flooding, which has seen the over 30-mile stretch through North Carolina and Tennessee closed for months at a time. Most recently, excessive rainfall from Hurricane Helene in September 2024 saw sections of Interstate 40 wash away into a raging Pigeon River. While the physical troubles of Interstate 40 are well known, how I-40 came to be through the area is a tale of its own. Interstate 40 West through Haywood County near mile marker 10. I-40's route through the Pigeon River Gorge dates to local political squabbles in the 1940s and a state highway law written in 1921. A small note appeared in the July 28, 1945, Asheville Times. It read that the North Carolina State Highway Commission had authorized a feasibility study of a "...water-level road down [the] Pigeon River to the Tennessee l...

Angus L. Macdonald Bridge

At 1.3 kilometers (or about 0.84 miles) in length, the Angus L. Macdonald Bridge is one of two bridges crossing over the Halifax Harbour between Halifax, Nova Scotia and Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, with the other bridge being the A. Murray Mackay Bridge . Opened in 1955 and named after former Nova Scotia Premier and Canadian Minister of Defense for Naval Services Angus L. Macdonald, the Macdonald Bridge was the first bridge that crossed Halifax Harbour that was opened to traffic. The Macdonald Bridge was also the subject of the Big Lift, which was only the second time in history that the span of a suspension bridge were replaced while the bridge was open to traffic. Planning began in 2010 for the Big Lift, while construction took place between 2015 and 2017. Similar work occurred on the Lion's Gate Bridge in Vancouver, British Columbia before the project took place on the Macdonald Bridge. At this time, much of the bridge infrastructure is new, leaving only the towers, main cables and...