U.S. Route 70 road trip requires a stop in Hillsborough

Driving east on U.S. Route 70 through Alamance County, N.C., is likened to experiencing a slice of Americana, weaving through what was once one of the hubs of textile manufacturing in North Carolina. 

Route 70 provides ready access to the communities of Gibsonville, Elon, Burlington, Graham, Haw River and Mebane. Crossing into Orange County, Route 70 proceeds on to Hillsborough. 

Hillsborough brags about being “a small town with big history.”

 

Founded in 1754, Hillsborough became a center of political activity during the American Revolutionary period, spewing over with historical significance. 

“Nowadays, it’s an eclectic community minutes from Chapel Hill, with great restaurants and a friendly everyone-knows-everyone vibe,” wrote local journalist Maggie Brown. “It’s a haven for writers and artists.”

 

Travel writers Carl Hedinger and Christina Riley of Durham, lean toward the outdoorsy side of Hillsborough, focusing on places like Occoneechee Mountain with an elevation of 867 feet, believed to be the highest point in the state between Hillsborough and the coast. 

There are three miles of Occoneechee Mountain hiking trails that offer scenic views overlooking Hillsborough and the Eno River, with “plenty of mountain laurels and rhododendron,” according to Hedinger and Riley.

 

For others, the main attraction is the nostalgic Occoneechee Speedway, which became stock car racing’s premier one-mile dirt track in 1948. It was the first “superspeedway.” 

The property was modified from a horse racing track by Bill France Sr. He’s the former automobile mechanic who created the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR).

 

The Hillsborough races drew crowds of 15,000 or more to watch legends like Edward Glenn “Fireball” Roberts Jr., Lee Petty, Everett “Cotton” Owens, Truman Fontell “Fonty” Flock and Louise Smith, speed around the oval track. 

Jeremy Markovich, formerly of Our State magazine, said: “Louise Smith was a fan favorite because she “could drink, swear and fight just as well as the men.” She was also famous for her spectacular, rolling wrecks.

 

Markovich wrote that “she once quipped that she would have been a much better driver if she’d put wheels on the roof of her car.” 

Smith’s most memorable crash came at Occoneechee in 1949. Makovich said: “Curtis Turner, a hall-of-fame driver, had just taught her how to powerslide through turns. Smith thought she’d gotten the hang of it, but during qualifying, she slid a little too far.” 

She said: “Man, when I hit that second turn that tire blew, and (the car) sailed off that bank down toward that river like a cannonball. Hit three trees. They had to get me out with a torch.” Smith required 48 stitches and four pins in her left knee. 

“Somehow, she and her car stopped before tumbling into the Eno,” Markovich noted. And she survived to race another day. Smith won 38 times during her career.

 

The final race at Occoneechee in 1968 was won by Lee Petty’s son, Richard Petty, who finished seven laps ahead of James Hylton. Drivers had started to complain about the bumpy, pothole-pocked dirt tracks. They wanted to race on asphalt.

 

Markovich said: “Old tracks don’t usually fade away. Most of them get plowed under. But Occoneechee is still there, still open to the public, saved by the woods that reclaimed it.” 

Since 2003, the property has been preserved as a 44-acre park with three miles of walking trails. The trail system connects to the Riverwalk that leads two miles downtown. North Carolina’s famous Mountains-to-Sea Trail now traverses the Occoneechee property.