The town of Wake Forest is situated in Wake County, right below the southern border of Franklin County. From my home in Youngsville, it is just a 15 minute drive away.
A couple of places I routinely go to in Wake Forest include: my dentist’s office, Walmart Pharmacy, Harris Teeter, and two of the four Goodwill locations, from which I source apparel to resell on eBay. When I need more apparel to stock in my eBay stores, I will typically visit these Goodwill locations first, before driving down to the Treasure Hunt Liquidation store in Raleigh.
There are two large parks (J.B. Flaherty and E. Carroll Joyner) that I drive by on my way to the town and another park in town across from the fire department. It’s almost a city really, it’s just missing a concentrated cluster of tall buildings. The area is home to several tall hospitals and medical research facilities in the area, but they are spread out.
Wake Forest sprawls across Google Maps and although it doesn’t feel like it has a center. There are a few potential anchor points.
Coming up the hill from Franklin county, you pass by a block of businesses on the left and to your right is an abandoned fuel station and Pelican’s SnoBalls. I can remember the fuel station still being in operation when I first moved to Youngsville. Afterwards, the street passes through the old Glenn Royall Mill historical district, ending at the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. The road parts here and you have to drive around the seminary to continue on into the town.
There are three different ways to go once you reach the seminary.
- If you go right, taking North Avenue to Stadium Drive, this takes you past Wake Forest High School and the Paschal Golf Club, eventually reaching Highway US-1 and a large shopping center with a Lowe’s Foods, TJMaxx, Michael’s, Sephora, Dollar Tree, and a local favorite, Smithfield’s Chicken Restaurant (think KFC, but local to NC).
- You can also continue south after North Avenue and take Durham Road, also to US-1, but along this way there is a shopping district that includes one of the Goodwill locations I visit. If you go left after the entrance to US-1, you’ll see a Bojangles restaurant, Target, Home Depot, Staples, and a PetSmart. Further south are Chick-fil-A and a drive-thru Starbucks. After this last set of businesses is a connecting road to Highway US-1.
- If you take North Avenue (left) past the seminary, on and go under the train bridge, this brings you to an intersection (Roosevelt Avenue) with a gas station, CVS pharmacy, and some new condominiums called Magnolia Trace.
I usually go with option 3. Making another right turn past the train bridge brings you onto North White Street. I would characterize this as the real main street in town.
Here you will find many local shops, Wake Forest Coffee Company, B & W Hardware, some art galleries, White Street Brewing Company, restaurants, and to the left, town hall, some civic structures, and the Wake Forest police station and fire department.
Now, if you don’t go under the train bridge, and instead continue south around the seminary, this becomes Front Street and East South Avenue which shortly become South Main Street / Alt US-1. This route goes past the magnet elementary school, a public water park, more historical housing, an aquarium shop, a farm stand, and the Lidl grocery store. A side street, with an old pave stone church on the corner, goes past the public library, American Legion Hall, and post office.
Making a right turn at the traffic light before Lidl takes you down Dr. Calvin Jones Road. The intersection here with Ligon Mill Road features a shopping area and several apartments. The anchor business is a Wegmans grocery, up on a hill. You can actually take Ligon Mill to reach the Walmart Supercenter and BYoung, physical therapist office mama visited for her rehabilitation.
Past the Lidl grocery, there are several more businesses and smaller shopping areas infilled along this road. Another Starbucks drive-thru is on Rogers Road, if you make a left turn at the middle school. If you continue straight, this takes you past my dentist’s office and further down is the Walmart supercenter.
Continuing east and west from the fire department are mostly residential areas. To the south is a connecting road to a larger highway and more of Wake Forest, eventually leading on to other towns. I’m not very familiar with that part of town.
Walmart marks the southern border of Wake Forest, with the highway continuing either southbound to Raleigh or by taking Falls of Neuse road, westward to Raleigh-Durham International Airport in Morrisville. I got lost in in Briercreek while trying to get to the airport back in 2024, when mama visited her guru Mooji, in Lisbon, Portugal.
The below posts are each from different businesses located inside the town of Wake Forest.
Wake Forest Posts
July 3, 2026
After mama ordered a Habu (rice lager) at Blackbird Brewery, we watched the fireworks display. At the end of the show we rushed over to the ice parlor for some cool refreshments.
Wake Forest Fireworks Spectacular 2026
July 3, 2026
We arrived in the parking lot outside Wayback Burgers and Jeremiah’s Italian Ice at around 5:20 pm. The official parking area over at…
July 3, 2026
After eating our dinner at the Wayback Burgers restaurant, we visited the local taproom so mama could get a celebratory drink. I didn’t drink since I was driving.
Wayback Burgers, Wake Forest, NC
July 3, 2026
My mother and I visited the Wayback Burgers restaurant located on Rogers Road in Wake Forest on July 3rd.
September 2, 2026
On Monday morning, we had an initial visit to the BYoung Physical Therapy location in Wake Forest, NC. We had received a referral from…
Real McCoy’s of Wake Forest, NC
May 3, 2026
My mother and I attended a talk hosted by Bright Funeral Home, about end of life planning and final wishes. The meal was free for attending the meeting.
