The Great Wagon Road

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The Great Wagon Road was an early American thoroughfare and the heavily-travelled main route for settlement of the southern states, particularly the backcountry. Beginning in Philadelphia, the Great Wagon Road passed through the towns of Lancaster and York in southeastern Pennsylvania. Turning southwest, the road crossed the Potomac River and entered the Shenandoah Valley at Winchester, Virginia, continuing down the valley via the Great Warrior's Trail. The Shenandoah portion of the road is also known as the Valley Pike. South of the Shenandoah Valley, the road reached the Roanoke River at the town of Big Lick (today Roanoke, Virginia). From there, the road passed through the Roanoke River Gap to the east side of the Blue Ridge, and continued south through the Piedmont region and the present-day North Carolina towns of Winston-Salem, Salisbury, and Charlotte, ultimately reaching Augusta, Georgia on the Savannah River. South of Roanoke, the Great Wagon Road was also called the Carolina Road.

(Source: Wikipedia)