U.S. Route 276

U.S. Route 276 marker U.S. Route 276
US 276 highlighted in red
Route information
Auxiliary route of US 76
Length	106.4 mi (171.2 km)
Existed	1932–present
Tourist routes	File:MUTCD D6-4.svg Forest Heritage Scenic Byway
Major junctions
East end	File:I-185.svgFile:I-385.svg I-185 / I-385 near Mauldin, SC
Major intersections	File:I-85.svg I-85 in Greenville, SC File:I-385.svg I-385 in Greenville, SC File:US 29.svg US 29 in Greenville, SC File:US 25.svg US 25 in Travelers Rest, SC File:US 64.svg US 64 in Brevard, NC File:US 23.svgFile:US 74.svg US 23 / US 74 in Waynesville, NC File:US 19.svg US 19 in Lake Junaluska, NC
North end	File:I-40.svg I-40 in Cove Creek, NC
Location
Country	United States
States	South Carolina, North Carolina
Counties	SC: Greenville NC: Transylvania, Haywood
Highway system
United States Numbered Highway System List Special Divided
← SC 274 SC → SC 277 ← NC 275 NC → I-277

U.S. Route 276 (US 276) is a United States highway that runs for 106.4 miles (171.2 km) from Mauldin, South Carolina to Cove Creek, North Carolina. It is known both as a busy urban highway in Greenville, South Carolina and a scenic back-road in Western North Carolina. Despite its numbering, it does not intersect its parent route U.S. Route 76.

Route description

South Carolina

In South Carolina, US 276 only runs in Greenville County, for a total of 43.3 miles (69.7 km); beginning at the I-385/I-185 junction in Mauldin. The US Highway then runs north to the City of Greenville, then to Travelers Rest, and then Marietta before climbing into North Carolina. A two-mile portion of US 276 between Greenville and Travelers Rest is an expressway complete with shoulders, exits, a grass median, and a speed limit of 55 miles per hour. In Travelers Rest, a Downtown Revitalization Plan has reduced US 276 from four lanes down to two; added trees, on-street parking, a new park, and other improvements. After Marietta, US 276 climbs about 2,000 feet (610 m) to Caesars Head State Park in the Blue Ridge Mountains, 3 miles (4.8 km) from the North Carolina border. At the border, the US Highway crosses the Eastern Continental Divide at 2,910 feet (890 m) above sea level.

North Carolina

In North Carolina, US 276 traverses through Transylvania and Haywood counties, for a total of 63 miles (101 km). Between the towns of Brevard and Waynesville in North Carolina, US 276 travels through the Pisgah National Forest and is a route heavily traveled by recreationalists. The road follows the Davidson River and a tributary upstream before climbing the Pisgah Ridge and crossing the Blue Ridge Parkway at its top, then descending by the Pigeon River and the Shining Rock Wilderness. Many trailheads used for hiking, mountain biking, and horseback riding lie along US 276 in this area and roads connecting to it. Drivers will also find roadside campgrounds, picnic areas, waterfalls, and two museums — the Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education and the Cradle of Forestry in America — along the road or within a short distance of it. North of Waynesville, US 276 continues through Lake Junaluska, where it joins US 19 to Maggie Valley, then runs north to I-40 at Cove Creek. US 276 is signed east–west in South Carolina and north–south in North Carolina; which is why it is listed as having an eastern and northern terminus. US 276 overlaps with the Forest Heritage Scenic Byway, which is a North Carolina Scenic Byway, National Forest Scenic Byway and National Scenic Byway, that traverses between Pisgah Forest and Woodrow.

History

File:US276North-Brevard.jpg

Northbound US 276, in Brevard

US 276 was established in 1932, traversing from Laurens, South Carolina to Brevard, North Carolina; it replaced US 76 between Laurens to Greenville, overlapped with US 25 to Travelers Rest, replaced SC 284/NC 284 to Brevard. Around 1939, US 276 was extended north from Brevard, via Pisgah Forest along the old Pisgah Motor Road, to Waynesville, ending at Main Street. In the 1940s, US 276 was changed to its current routing around the downtown area of Greenville, which established US 276 Business by 1948; the business route would be later replaced by I-85 Business by 1968-70. In 1957 or 1958, US 276 was moved onto new freeway south of Mauldin to just south of Fountain Inn; its old route was replaced by SC 417 between Mauldin-Simpsonville and SC 14 to Fountain Inn. Between 1959-61, US 276's realignment onto new freeway was complete with a connection with I-26 in Clinton, the remainder of its former route to Laurens was replaced by SC 14. Also around 1959, US 276 was extended north again to Lake Junaluska, North Carolina, replacing another section of NC 284. By 1968, a widened 4-lane road was completed between Dellwood and Cove Creek, completing a temporary connection between two completed sections of I-40. This section became the final extension north of US 276, replacing the last remaining section NC 284; temporary I-40 lasted till 1974 (when the section between exits 20-27 was completed). Around 1985, the Mauldin-Clinton freeway was renumbered to I-385; truncating US 276 to its current eastern terminus in Mauldin.

North Carolina Highway 284

North Carolina Highway 284 marker North Carolina Highway 284
Location	Cove Creek, North Carolina
Existed	1930–1969

NC 284 was a former state highway in the Mountains Region of the state of North Carolina. Its routing through the Great Smoky Mountains was demoted to Old NC 284 (Cove Creek Road) and today remains primitive road; it is thus unpaved and is maintained by the National Park Service. The rest of the old route, which lies to the south, was replaced segment by segment by U.S. Highway 276 from 1939 to 1968, when the last section from Maggie Valley north to the newly constructed Interstate 40 in Cove Creek was replaced by the U.S. highway.

Junction list

Mileposts reset at state line crossings. Highway runs east-west in South Carolina, south-north in North Carolina.

State	County	Location	mi	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
South Carolina	Greenville	​	0.00	0.00		File:South plate blue.svg File:I-385.svg I-385 south – Simpsonville, Columbia	Continuation beyond eastern terminus; I-385 exit 30
		​				File:North plate blue.svg File:Toll plate yellow.svg File:I-185.svg I-185 Toll north – Atlanta	Interchange; provides access to Neely Ferry Road; I-185 exit 1A
		​			30	E. Standing Springs Road	Interchange; exit number based on I-385 mileage; eastbound access via I-185 exit
		Mauldin	1.4	2.3		File:South Carolina 417.svg SC 417 – Simpsonville	Partial interchange; eastbound left exit and westbound left entrance
		Greenville	5	8.0		File:I-85.svg I-85 – Spartanburg, Atlanta	I-85 exits 48A-B
			6.3	10.1		File:South Carolina 146.svg SC 146 (Woodruff Road) – Woodruff
			7.6	12.2		File:South Carolina 291.svg SC 291 (Pleasantburg Drive)
			9	14		File:South plate blue.svg File:I-385.svg I-385 south / I-385 Bus. north – Columbia, Downtown Greenville, Fluor Field, Bon Secours Wellness Arena, Falls Park, Heritage Green, Peace Center	Northern terminus of I-385; southern terminus of I-385 Bus.; I-385 exit 42
			9.5	15.3		Wade Hampton Boulevard north (US 29 Conn. north)	Southern terminus of US 29 Conn. and Wade Hampton Boulevard
						File:To plate.svg File:US 29.svg Column Street south (US 29 Spur south) to US 29 – Anderson	Northern terminus of US 29 Spur and Column Street
			10.5	16.9		File:South plate South Carolina.svg File:South Carolina 183.svg SC 183 south (Rutherford Road)
			12.4	20.0		File:South Carolina 253.svgFile:South plate South Carolina.svg File:South Carolina 291.svg SC 253 / SC 291 south (Blue Ridge Drive / Pleasantburg Drive)	Northern terminus of SC 291
			14.6	23.5		Old Buncombe Road	Interchange
			15.3	24.6		Furman University	Interchange
		Travelers Rest	17.5	28.2		File:North plate.svg File:US 25.svg US 25 north – Asheville	Interchange; westbound exit only
						File:South plate.svg File:US 25.svgFile:To plate blue.svg File:I-85.svg US 25 south to I-85 – Anderson, Greenwood, Atlanta	Interchange; east end of eastbound-only overlap with US 25; eastbound exit and westbound entrance
						File:North plate.svg File:US 25.svg US 25 north	Interchange; west end of eastbound-only overlap with US 25; westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		​	22.2	35.7		File:South Carolina 414.svg SC 414 (Bates Crossing Road)
		Slater-Marietta	23.4	37.7		File:South Carolina 186.svg SC 186 (Dacusville Road) – Dacusville, Pickens
			23.7	38.1		File:South Carolina 288.svg SC 288 (Pumpkintown Road) – Pumpkintown
		Cleveland	27.8	44.7		File:East plate South Carolina.svg File:South Carolina 11.svgFile:To plate.svg File:US 25.svg SC 11 east to US 25 (Cherokee Foothills Scenic Highway)	East end of SC 11 overlap; to Pleasant Ridge County Park
		​	33.3	53.6		File:West plate South Carolina.svg File:South Carolina 11.svg SC 11 west (Cherokee Foothills Scenic Highway)	West end of SC 11 overlap; to Table Rock State Park
		​	34.2	55.0		File:South plate South Carolina.svg File:South Carolina 8.svg SC 8 south (Caesars Head Highway) – Pickens	Northern terminus of SC 8; to Table Rock State Park
Eastern Continental Divide			43.5 0.00	70.0 0.00		South Carolina–North Carolina line
North Carolina	Transylvania	Cedar Mountain	1.6	2.6		Cascade Lake Road	to DuPont State Forest
		Brevard	12.5	20.1		File:West plate.svg File:US 64.svg US 64 west (Broad Street) – Highlands, Franklin	South end of US 64 overlap
			13.3	21.4		File:West plate.svg File:Business plate.svg File:US 64.svg US 64 Bus. west (Caldwell Street)	Brevard College at intersection
		Pisgah Forest	15.9	25.6		File:East plate.svg File:US 64.svgFile:East plate.svg File:NC 280.svg US 64 east / NC 280 east – Asheville, Hendersonville	North end of US 64 overlap; South end of Forest Heritage Scenic Byway overlap; East end of NC Bike 8
		​	31	50		Blue Ridge Parkway	Interchange via connector road; west end of NC Bike 8
	Haywood	Woodrow	45.3	72.9		File:North plate.svg File:NC 110.svgFile:South plate.svg File:NC 215.svg NC 110 north / NC 215 south – Canton, Rosman	South end of NC 215 overlap; North end of Forest Heritage Scenic Byway overlap
		Bethel	46	74		File:North plate.svg File:NC 215.svg NC 215 north – Canton	North end of NC 215 overlap
		Waynesville	52	84		File:South plate.svg File:Business plate.svg File:US 23.svg US 23 Bus. south (Main Street south) – Sylva	South end of US 23 Bus. overlap
			52.4	84.3		File:North plate.svg File:Business plate.svg File:US 23.svg US 23 Bus. north (Main Street north)	North end of US 23 Bus. overlap
			53.1	85.5		File:US 23.svgFile:US 74.svg US 23 / US 74 (Great Smoky Mountains Expressway) – Asheville, Sylva
		Lake Junaluska	54.5	87.7		File:North plate.svg File:US 19.svg US 19 north (Dellwood Road) – Asheville	North end of US 19 overlap
		Dellwood	56.9	91.6		File:South plate.svg File:US 19.svg US 19 south (Soco Road) – Maggie Valley, Cherokee	South end of US 19 overlap
		Cove Creek	62.9	101.2		File:I-40.svg I-40 – Asheville, Knoxville	Northern terminus; I-40 exit 20
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access

Special routes

Greenville business loop 1

Business plate 1961.svg U.S. Highway 276 Business marker U.S. Highway 276 Business
Location	Greenville, South Carolina
Existed	c.1947–1970

Greenville business loop 2

Business plate 1961.svg U.S. Highway 276 Business marker U.S. Highway 276 Business
Location	Greenville, South Carolina
Existed	1983–1984

Travelers Rest connector

Connector plate.svg U.S. Highway 276 Connector marker U.S. Highway 276 Connector
Location	Travelers Rest, South Carolina
Length	1.100 mi (1.770 km)

U.S. Route 276 Connector (US 276 Conn.) is a 1.0 mile (1.6 km) connector route, in concurrency with US 25 Conn., along Poinsett Highway. It connects US 276 with US 25, in downtown Travelers Rest. Not only is the highway unsigned, it is not even shown on SCDOT's Greenville metro area map, so the highway may be decommissioned.

External links

Template:Attached KML/U.S. Route 276

KML is not from Wikidata

• File:Commons-logo.svg Media related to U.S. Route 276 at Wikimedia Commons
• NCRoads.com: U.S. 276
• Mapmikey's South Carolina Highways Page: US 276