NC 48 is a state highway

State highway

State highway, state road or state route can refer to one of three related concepts, two of them related to a state or provincial government in a country that is divided into states or provinces :#A...

 in the North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

 Highway System

North Carolina Highway System

The North Carolina Highway System consists of a vast network of Interstate highways, U.S. routes, and state routes, managed by the North Carolina Department of Transportation...

 that principally connects the cities of Rocky Mount

Rocky Mount, North Carolina

Rocky Mount is an All-America City Award-winning city in Edgecombe and Nash counties in the coastal plains of the state of North Carolina. Although it was not formally incorporated until February 28, 1867, the North Carolina community that became the city of Rocky Mount dates from the beginning of...

 and Roanoke Rapids

Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina

Roanoke Rapids is a city in Halifax County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 16,957 at the 2000 census. It is the principal city of the Roanoke Rapids Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...

. The route offers an alternative to US 301 and I-95

Interstate 95 in North Carolina

Interstate 95 is a major Interstate Highway, running along the East Coast of the United States from Florida to Maine. In North Carolina, I-95 runs diagonally across the eastern third of the state, from Rowland in the southwest to Roanoke Rapids in the northeast of the Inner Banks.-Route...

.

Route description

The highway runs from the community of Pleasant Hill

Pleasant Hill, Northampton County, North Carolina

Pleasant Hill is an unincorporated community in northwestern Northampton County, North Carolina, United States. The community is on U.S. Route 301, north of Weldon, and lies at an elevation of ....

, just south of the North Carolina/Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

 border, south through the Hickory Crossroads area and into downtown Rocky Mount. Approximately half the route's length is shared with NC 4.