Sharon Brooks

The amateur paranormal hunter

March 22, 2010 |  0 comments
Image Credit: stockxpert The state of North Carolina offers many exciting locations for the paranormal adventurer. The Cape Hatteras Light House, Fort Macon and The Devil’s Tramping Ground just to name a few. Inspired by the exciting new paranormal shows, I decided to do some amateur sleuthing of my own. So, after some consideration and consulting a map, I decided to visit the Devil’s Tramping Ground.

A little lore on this location is necessary to set the mood of the trip. The way the story is told the Devil himself is said to walk the ground at night, in a circular path, plotting the downfall of man, his steps forever scarring the land. Neither grass nor flowers will grow in the roughly 40 foot circle, and if anything is placed in the circle at night, it is said be moved outside of the ring by the morning. The area is located just about ten miles outside of Siler City, North Carolina. It is hard to find without good directions, but with some trial and error it can be located.

After I arrived and parked on the shoulder of the road, I got out, noticing the only sounds to be heard were cars in the distance. No bird sounds or other noises, as would be expected in a woodland setting, just the rustling of the wind through the trees. The circle itself is not far from the road. As I approached it I noticed what looked like a bonfire had been built in the center and a few logs dragged up to sit on. Off to the left and just outside of the circle was what appeared to be the bones of perhaps a dog or a small deer? When I approached them they appeared to be lying in an almost exact skeletal outline, as if the animal had just lay down and died. The bones were bleached white, so I’m certain they had been there for a while. I was not sure if this had been some type of satanic sacrifice, or perhaps the animal, hit by a car, had staggered its way into the woods and died. With the body completely intact I leaned toward the first theory. The eerie silence was very distracting. Perhaps just the legend of the area was working on my nerves, but seeing the dead animal carcass had set me on edge.

I made my way over to the circle itself. It was a roughly outlined circle of dirt, free of grass or any other plant life, but full of broken glass bottles and bits of burned trash. I would imagine the foot traffic alone would kill the plant life as well as discourage any animals from intruding. I inspected the fire pit and other then having burned trash in it, there was nothing remarkable about it. Still, however I noticed no animal activity or bird sounds from the trees.

I walked a short distance into the woods in each direction around the circle. The trash and broken bottles had managed to find their way into the woods and it seemed there were several foot paths that wandered off in various directions. I saw no other bones or traces of dead animals, further leading me to think the set of bones at the entrance to the woods may have been a road kill that someone had dragged over to the outskirts of the circle. The only disturbing thing I noticed during my trip was the eerie lack of animals, but if the location is heavily traveled and bonfires are common, then that might account for animals not nesting in the immediate area.

These types of grass less rings are fairly common. Some are called fairy rings, some have mushrooms that grow in a ring inside and others are caused by a fungus. They are common in North America as well as England, Ireland and many other locations. Having gone to the Devil’s tramping ground in the daylight, I feel certain I missed out on much of the ambiance of the area. Perhaps further investigation would revel something more sinister. For the area to have retained the legend for so long, I feel there must be more to it then what I uncovered, so for now I will have to defer to the hunters before me and their conclusions. I feel The Devil’s Tramping ground definitely requires further research at night, perhaps if one were cunning enough they could catch a glimpse of Old Nick himself.[!gad]The state of North Carolina offers many exciting locations for the paranormal adventurer. The Cape Hatteras Light House, Fort Macon and The Devil’s Tramping Ground just to name a few. Inspired by the exciting new paranormal shows, I decided to do some amateur sleuthing of my own. So, after some consideration and consulting a map, I decided to visit the Devil’s Tramping Ground.

A little lore on this location is necessary to set the mood of the trip. The way the story is told the Devil himself is said to walk the ground at night, in a circular path, plotting the downfall of man, his steps forever scarring the land. Neither grass nor flowers will grow in the roughly 40 foot circle, and if anything is placed in the circle at night, it is said be moved outside of the ring by the morning. The area is located just about ten miles outside of Siler City, North Carolina. It is hard to find without good directions, but with some trial and error it can be located.

After I arrived and parked on the shoulder of the road, I got out, noticing the only sounds to be heard were cars in the distance. No bird sounds or other noises, as would be expected in a woodland setting, just the rustling of the wind through the trees. The circle itself is not far from the road. As I approached it I noticed what looked like a bonfire had been built in the center and a few logs dragged up to sit on. Off to the left and just outside of the circle was what appeared to be the bones of perhaps a dog or a small deer? When I approached them they appeared to be lying in an almost exact skeletal outline, as if the animal had just lay down and died. The bones were bleached white, so I’m certain they had been there for a while. I was not sure if this had been some type of satanic sacrifice, or perhaps the animal, hit by a car, had staggered its way into the woods and died. With the body completely intact I leaned toward the first theory. The eerie silence was very distracting. Perhaps just the legend of the area was working on my nerves, but seeing the dead animal carcass had set me on edge.

I made my way over to the circle itself. It was a roughly outlined circle of dirt, free of grass or any other plant life, but full of broken glass bottles and bits of burned trash. I would imagine the foot traffic alone would kill the plant life as well as discourage any animals from intruding. I inspected the fire pit and other then having burned trash in it, there was nothing remarkable about it. Still, however I noticed no animal activity or bird sounds from the trees.

I walked a short distance into the woods in each direction around the circle. The trash and broken bottles had managed to find their way into the woods and it seemed there were several foot paths that wandered off in various directions. I saw no other bones or traces of dead animals, further leading me to think the set of bones at the entrance to the woods may have been a road kill that someone had dragged over to the outskirts of the circle. The only disturbing thing I noticed during my trip was the eerie lack of animals, but if the location is heavily traveled and bonfires are common, then that might account for animals not nesting in the immediate area.

These types of grass less rings are fairly common. Some are called fairy rings, some have mushrooms that grow in a ring inside and others are caused by a fungus. They are common in North America as well as England, Ireland and many other locations. Having gone to the Devil’s tramping ground in the daylight, I feel certain I missed out on much of the ambiance of the area. Perhaps further investigation would revel something more sinister. For the area to have retained the legend for so long, I feel there must be more to it then what I uncovered, so for now I will have to defer to the hunters before me and their conclusions. I feel The Devil’s Tramping ground definitely requires further research at night, perhaps if one were cunning enough they could catch a glimpse of Old Nick himself. Comments (0)

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