Jennifer Pettitt said she has gotten used to people stopping in her driveway to take a look at the stunning view from her front yard.
Pettitt lives on N.C. 66 in Stokes County, across from a group of small barns in the middle of an old tobacco field lined with newly blooming Bradford pear trees. Just beyond the field, the twin profiles of Pilot and Sauratown mountains rise into view.
"We absolutely love it. It's gorgeous," she said. "Everybody knows the red barns."
Pettitt's home is on a section of road known as the Hanging Rock Scenic Byway, a 38-mile stretch of farmland and rolling hills that snakes through Stokes County and into eastern Surry County.
The state designated the road as a scenic byway in 1990, but now it's getting a fresh look. Officials are considering expanding the byway into Danbury and are also working on a marketing campaign to lure tourists.
"The main point is to get more people to come to the area," said Marc Allred, a rural planner for the Northwest Piedmont Council of Governments.
The expansion would create a 12-mile loop that would go through Danbury and connect back to N.C. 66, Allred said. Having the byway pass through Danbury would give tourists an opportunity to visit the shops, restaurants and other businesses in town, he said.
"The byway as it stands now does not go through Danbury," Allred said. "I feel like the town could benefit with a little more exposure to Hanging Rock."
The road's economic impact on Stokes County hasn't been studied, Allred said.
State transportation officials are likely to consider the extension plan this summer, said Jeff Lackey, the state's scenic-bypass coordinator.
Allred said he also just started a push to get the state to replace the scenic byway signs along the route, most of which have become cracked and faded.
The $27,000 marketing plan includes creating a logo, a Web site, brochures that could be placed at state welcome centers, and an advertisement in Our State magazine. Most of the money is being provided by a grant from the National Scenic Byways Program, a federal transportation program.
Lackey said they try to reach everyone in marketing campaigns for the byways, but the strongest response tends to come from people 50 or older and retirees.
"They normally have more time to travel," he said.
The state has 51 byways totaling about 1,800 miles of roadway, he said.
The Hanging Rock Scenic Byway is the only state-designated byway in North Carolina between Forsyth County and the Blue Ridge Parkway. Lackey said that it provides a rural, mountainous trip for people close to such cities as Winston-Salem and Greensboro.
The byway begins at the intersection of Denny Road and N.C. 66. It proceeds north, branching off onto Moores Springs Road before making the final connection to N.C. 89 West, and ending just east of Mount Airy.
Along the way, there are waterfalls and the Dan River. Family cemeteries dot the countryside, and open fields lead to old farmhouses. Then there are, of course, the mountains to gaze at as you pass by or stop to explore.
Texie Jessup lives on N.C. 89 in Francisco, across from an old wooden building that used to be the town's post office until the 1950s. She said that more people would come to the byway if they knew about what is there.
"I think the area has a lot of attractions," she said. "I think it could be marketed."
■ Paul Garber can be reached at 727-7327 or at pgarber@wsjournal.com.
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