Getting Up Fancy Gap Mountain: Travel Then and Now
The drive between Mount Airy, North Carolina, and Hillsville, Virginia, takes about twenty minutes today. Route 52 winds up and over Fancy Gap Mountain, a two-lane road that climbs up to three thousand feet before landing in Carroll County. The pavement is smooth, the grades are steady, and modern engines handle the climb without complaint. But a hundred years ago, this same road tested every traveler who attempted it.
The Fancy Gap Mountain Road Before Pavement
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the route connecting Hillsville and Mount Airy was known simply as the Mountain Road. It followed the same alignment as Route 52 but was little more than a dirt track carved into the slope of Fancy Gap Mountain. It rose from about 1,200 feet in Mount Airy to nearly 2,900 feet at the crest—a climb steep enough to wear out horses and men alike.
A trip that takes minutes now could stretch into a full day if the weather turned bad. Rain soaked the red clay and turned it into ruts that swallowed wagon wheels. Snow and ice made the descent perilous. Drivers walked beside their teams for much of the climb, urging the animals forward and steering clear of rocks and mudholes. Horses leaned into their collars until the harness straps creaked. When the grade steepened, a driver might add a second team or unload part of the wagon to make the summit.
The descent was its own challenge. To slow the wagon, drivers wrapped chains around the rear wheels or braced them with blocks of wood. A single mistake could send a load careening down the slope. Travelers stopped often to water the teams and check for damage. Even the sound of the trip was hard work—wood groaning, iron rims striking rock, hooves slipping in the clay.
Fog was common on Fancy Gap Mountain, especially near the crest. When visibility disappeared, travelers stopped and waited for the wind to clear a path. If they were lucky, they reached the top by nightfall, where a meal and a fire waited.
Stops Along the Climb
For generations, that fire burned at the Double Branches Tavern and Inn, later called the Blue Ridge Court and Restaurant. The building stood near the summit of Fancy Gap Mountain, serving as a stopping place for weary travelers.
In the stagecoach era, the tavern offered food, a place to rest, and a stable for the horses. When automobiles arrived, the tavern adapted—adding gasoline, meals, and water for overheated radiators. Locals remember the waterwheel beside the stream and the cabins that stood behind the main building. In its last decades, it served home-cooked meals to travelers until closing in the 1950s. The structure still stands, privately owned and slowly weathering, a quiet reminder of the years when the climb was an accomplishment, not a commute.
Why People Endured the Trip
The route over Fancy Gap Mountain was a lifeline. Hillsville was a small county seat with a few stores, while Mount Airy had the railroad, doctors, and markets for goods grown or made in the highlands. Carroll County farmers hauled tobacco, livestock, and lumber down the mountain to sell. They returned with supplies that sustained daily life—tools, fabric, medicine, and hardware.
The journey wasn’t optional. Whether by wagon, buggy, or horseback, residents crossed the ridge to trade, visit family, or seek care. The fourteen-mile distance between the towns might not sound far, but the mountain made it feel much longer. A traveler left at dawn and hoped to reach home again before nightfall.
The Fancy Gap Mountain Road Today
By the 1930s and 1940s, Route 52 over Fancy Gap Mountain was paved and graded, replacing the dirt and clay with asphalt. The new surface brought relief but not ease; drivers still faced tight curves and quick weather changes. In 1977, Interstate 77 opened nearby, taking most through-traffic away. Route 52 remains the locals’ road, a scenic alternative that keeps the shape of the original climb.
At the summit, the road connects to the Blue Ridge Parkway at Milepost 199.5. From there, travelers can still see the same views that once greeted wagon drivers catching their breath at the top.
The trip that once demanded an entire day now takes less than half an hour, but the character of the road hasn’t changed. It still climbs the same ridge, follows the same curves, and carries the same name. Fancy Gap Mountain has always been more than a rise in the landscape. It is a passage through time, linking the old mountain road to the modern highway and reminding travelers how much effort once went into getting from one town to the next.
