North Carolina Highway 226 (NC 226) is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Traveling north–south through Western North Carolina, it connects the cities and towns of Grover, Shelby, Marion, Spruce Pine and Bakersville. It also a scenic byway in the South Mountains area and connects with the summer colony of Little Switzerland, via NC 226A.

Shelby is a city in and the county seat of Cleveland County, North Carolina. It lies near the western edge of the Charlotte-Concord, NC-SC Combined Statistical Area. The population was 21,918 at the 2020 census.