U.S. Route 74 in North Carolina

From the Tennessee state line, US 74 traverses across the southern portion of the state, connecting the major cities Asheville, Charlotte, and Wilmington, for a total of 451.8 miles (727.1 km).

In western North Carolina, US 74 enters the state with a concurrency with US 64. Routed along on pre-existing highways in the region, specifically the: Appalachian Highway (at-grade expressway, except in the Nantahala Gorge) and the Great Smoky Mountains Expressway (controlled-access freeway, which is broken in three sections along the route); it shares a revolving door of concurrency changes with US 19, US 129, US 441 and US 23. The alternating named highway (depending on grade of road) is considered the commercial back-bone and main truck route of Western North Carolina, connecting the cities of Murphy, Andrews, Bryson City, Cherokee, Sylva, and Waynesville. In or around October, the fall colors create an influx of more tourists in the region. In the winter months, the highway is the first to be salted and plowed; however, both the Nantahala Gorge and Balsam Gap tend to get the most snow and/or ice in the region and should be traveled with care.

North of Clyde, US 74 merges with Interstate 40 and goes east, in concurrency, to Asheville. From there, it then goes southeast, in concurrency with Interstate 26 till Columbus, where it separates and continues east along a mostly controlled-access highway, except in Shelby, to Interstate 85, in Kings Mountain.

After crossing a unique weave intersection with Interstate 85, it joins with US 29 and travels through downtown Gastonia along Franklin Boulevard. East of Gastonia, it becomes Wilkinson Boulevard as it go through McAdenville, Cramerton and Belmont. After crossing the Lake Wylie/Catawba River, via Sloans Ferry Bridge, it enters Charlotte, with connections with Interstate 485 and Interstate 85/Charlotte Douglas International Airport, via Little Rock Road. At Morehead Street, west of Center City, it splits with US 29 for Interstate 277 along the John Belk Freeway. East of Center City, it goes solo again along Independence Freeway/Boulevard to Matthews, where it connects again with Interstate 485.

Going southeast, it goes through Stallings, Indian Trail and Monroe, where it briefly overlaps with US 601, before continuing east again through Wingate, Marshville, Peachland, Polkton, Wadesboro and Lilesville. On this stretch, prior to 2018, signage for the route was very poor, only being found at a few locations along the route. As part of the US 74 Monroe Bypass project, signage along the route was improved by the NCDOT.

Crossing the Pee Dee River and into the Sandhills region, US 74 meets up with Future Interstates I-73/I-74, in Rockingham. After a future interchange near NC 38 that will end its overlap with Interstate 73, US 74/Future I-74 continues southeast, bypassing Laurinburg and Maxton. East of Maxton and through Lumberton, the highway is officially US 74/Interstate 74, before dropping back to Future I-74 west of Boardman; the concurrency with Future I-74 ends at Bolton, where a future interchange will split from US 74 to continue south towards South Carolina. This is one of only two instances (along with I-41 in Wisconsin) of similarly-numbered U.S. and Interstate routes being designated on the same road.

Near Chadbourn, US 74 overlaps with US 76, which continue mostly together till Wrightsville Beach, where US 74 dead-ends north and US 76 dead-ends south. The highway connects the cities and towns of Whiteville, Lake Waccamaw, and Wilmington. The road through the Cape Fear region is flat, surrounded by parts of the Green Swamp.