| Lance Creek | rises in SW Watauga County, flows S to Camp Yonahlosee, then flows in a NW arc into Watauga River. About 4 mi. long. |
| Lance Mountain | S Buncombe County E of Reynolds Gap. |
| Land of Eden | former 20,000-acre tract belonging to William Byrd (1674-1744) along the Dan River, N Rockingham County. Byrd surveyed area in 1728. Named because of its Garden of Eden qualities. An additional 6,000 acres were granted to Byrd's son in 1742. Purchased from the younger Byrd by the Farley family in 1755; by 1769 it had been divided into farms and plantations. The town of Eden, formed in 1967 by the merger of Leaksville, Spray, and Draper, took its name from Byrd's estate. |
| Landgrave Smith's Island | See Smith Island. |
| Landing Creek | See Gum Neck Creek. |
| Landing Ridge | a ridge of high ground in Big Pocosin, SW Gates County. |
| Landis | town in SW Rowan County. Inc. 1901. Named for Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis (1866-1944), who imposed a $29 million fine on Standard Oil Company at the time the community was searching for a name. Landis Northeast is a community on the outskirts of the town. |
| Landrum Creek | rises in central Chatham County and flows SE into Rocky River. |
| Lands Creek | rises in N central Swain County and flows SW into Tuckasegee River. |
| Lane Pinnacle | N Buncombe County at the E end of Bull Mountain. Alt. 5,277. Named for the owner, Charles Lane, who, in the first quarter of the nineteenth century, operated an iron forge on Reems Creek. He obtained some of his ore from the mountain. |