The Devil's Tramping Ground Investigation

The Devil's Tramping Ground is a camping spot located in a forest near the Harper's Crossroads area in Bear Creek, North Carolina. It has been the subject of persistent local legends and lore, which frequently allege that the Devil "tramps" and haunts a barren circle of ground in which nothing is supposed to grow. It has frequently been noted on lists of unusual place names.

Tall tales about the ring are well known in local communities. These include the disappearance of objects left within the ring overnight, dogs yipping and howling, not wanting to go near it, and strange events occurring to those brave enough to spend the night within its boundaries. It has been alleged that nothing has grown within the 40 feet ring for a hundred years. Legend says that this is the very place the devil himself can rise from the depths of fiery hell, and come to earth. It is at this place that the devil is supposed to walk in circles on certain nights and bring his evil into this world.

John William Harden (1903–1985) of Greensboro, N.C., journalist, newspaper editor, author, and advisor to North Carolina governors and textile executives, had this to say of the Devil's Tramping Ground:

Chatham natives say... that the Devil goes there to walk in circles as he thinks up new means of causing trouble for humanity. There, sometimes during the dark of night, the Majesty of the Underworld of Evil silently tramps around that bare circle-- thinking, plotting, and planning against good, in behalf of wrong.

The Devil's Tramping Ground is mentioned in two horror novels by Poppy Z. Brite: Lost Souls and Drawing Blood. Both these novels take place, at least in part, in the fictional North Carolina city of Missing Mile; the inspiration for which is taken from Duncan and Chapel Hill, NC and Athens, GA.

(Text courtesy of Wikipedia)

Address: 4005 Devil’s Tramping Ground Road, Bear Creek, North Carolina 27207

Directions: From Raleigh/Durham: Take I-40 West; Follow NC-540 W and US-1 S to US-421 N in Sanford. Take exit 70B from US-1 S. Follow US-421 N to NC-902 W to Harpers Crossroads. Take a right on Siler City-Glendon Road then immediate left onto Devils Tramping Ground Road. The Tramping Ground will be 1.25 miles on the left (look for pull off).

Hauntings: There are no specific reports of hauntings that this author was able to find concerning the bare patch of land. There are lots of local legends that this is the devil’s land and visitors aren’t welcome. Some investigators in the past have reported feeling a bit ill and disorientated while visiting the site and others have indicated some of their equipment does not function properly while in the circle of bare earth. It is evident from past visits that grass seems to refuse to grow in this area.

I originally visited this site back in August of 1991 and it looks pretty much the same with the exception of some red metal gates that were installed to keep people off the property. I was able to track down the alleged owner of this property and paid $30 for two people to be on the property legally. However upon arriving at the site, I was unable to make contact with the owner, so we entered on our own having proof of ticket purchase.

I cannot be absolutely sure that a ticket for admission is necessary and I’m sure that many people have entered without.

The Ghost Research Society investigated The Devil's Tramping Ground on September 6, 2025  and the team members included: Paul Adams and Dale Kaczmarek.

Equipment setup: During our visit we simply used the ParaTek and Ghost Radar applications, a digital recorder and a Samsung Galaxy S-21 Slim Ultra for picture taking.

Experiments performed: EVP session #1 was conducted using a ParaTek and Ghost Radar apps at the same time. EVP session #2 was a short classic burst session.

Personal experiences:

Dale Kaczmarek: I did acquire a mild heartache while on the property. While I cannot be sure that the ground gave me the headache, it was somewhat coincidental. Towards the end of the second session, the heavens opened up with some rain and wind, so that put a stop to our EVP session.

 Evidence collected: Nothing!

Words spoken by the ParaTek device: well made, Spanish, explanation, section, romantic, cock, prevent, heat, damage, short, read, characterize, horse, nimble, significant, wish, lace, married, front, sit, program, room, superb and clever. Words spoken by the Ghost Radar app: rain, Casey and tonight.    

Conclusions: We had dodged rainfall, some mild and some quite significant throughout the day. It had cleared a bit upon our arrival to the site but started to come down a bit heavier towards the end of EVP session #2. No intelligent responses were heard but a few of the words uttered by the two apps were interesting including; (prevent head damage) in a sentence by the ParaTek and the first word out of the Ghost Radar was “rain.”

Something I found a little unusual was that a single raindrop hit me in the forward. Of course, it could have just been coincidental. The location did not change since my last visit in 1991.