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| Inside the Devil's Thinking Circle |
Legend says that this is the very place the devil himself can rise from the depths of fiery hell, and come to earth. It's at this place, the devil walks in circles on certain nights and brings his evil into this world.
It's here. Here in North Carolina. A portal, a gateway that exists due to a rift in space and time directly over Chatham county that allows passage of demons and devils to come to earth each night at 3 AM, otherwise known as the
Devil's hour. Think I'm joking? Greensboro journalist John Harden stated:
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| Urban Legend, Ghost Story, or Gateway to the Underworld? |
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, and in behalf of wrong.
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| As we approached it began raining upwards. |
I've attempted to go there before and couldn't find it. In fact it's been over 4 years since any recent pictures have been taken of the Devil's Tramping Grounds, and the area around it has been logged, and much has changed so I found it very interesting we could even find it. But we did, and here's the story:
For at least the last hundred years, nothing has grown within the 40 foot ring and the phenomenon is thus far unexplained. A United States Geological Survey team could uncover no scientific explanation for the lack of growth within the ring.
Stories about the ring are well known in local communities. These include the disappearance of objects left within the ring overnight, and strange events occurring to those brave enough to spend the night within its boundaries.
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| Dead animals lined the road as we approached the Devil's portal. |
On a lonely stretch of two lane highway in Chatham County North Carolina exists a place sacred to the followers of the dark arts, the devil, and satanic religious followers. Ten miles south of Siler City, North Carolina on our way to
Southern Supreme, a fruit cake factory, our travels became sojourned when we accidentally stumbled upon a single street sign labeled the Devil Tramping Grounds Road. I had been here before, I knew what went on here. This is where the Prince of Darkness, Lucifer, the Devil himself rises and brings Hell upon earth. In an area of religious fruit cakes, where every mobile home has signs with Bible passages in their yard, you have ironically- the sacred ground for their adversaries.
The Devil's Tramping Ground - It is a patch of land in a perfect circle- 40 feet across, the perimeter of which is a path about a foot wide. It's said that the devil himself walks that path every night pacing as he spins his evil deeds, no one has ever been able to spend the night there, and nothing will grow on the path, it is said that anything placed in the circle will disappear by the next morning.
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| I swear I heard a banjo Shannon. |
This is when I turned to Shannon seated beside me and asked "Will you go to Hell and back with me?" She replied with a resounding "Uh, yeah... the cake place doesn't open till nine! What else are we going to do?" So after accessing Greensboring.com via mobile web for the co-ordinates and loading them into the GPS unit, we were off. Within moments we began seeing the signs of evil upon the road as it was littered with dead carcasses.
It was at this moment just feet away from the Devil's Tramping Grounds the car shut completely off, lost all power and required us to get out and investigate this supernatural phenomenon from outside the safety of the car.
As we peered upon the horizon, we looked back upon what could be our last moments upon the mortal world. There was no turning back now, there it was.... the Devil's Tramping Grounds, the gateway to the underworld.
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| Devil's Tramping Ground Road |
Shannon and I were overwhelmed. We felt drawn to it... after all my mother-in-law said I was the devil incarnate, so this meant I was coming home:
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| Yes, that's my mother-in-law! |
Shannon, a good little Christian girl immediately became possessed by the devil and started throwing signs like a demon from Compton.
In the end we walked around, found a few shotgun shells, and decided it was time to try and escape the evils of this world by getting back on our journey to Southern Supreme. We went back to the car, jumped in and luckily it started. This time we survived, this time we made it back from the lava filled pits of Hell to see another day. It's not every day you go to Hell and back... but we did, and survived. Now where is my T-shirt?
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The Caldera!
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| The Devil's footprint! |
The Devil's Tramping Ground is approximately 50 miles south of Greensboro. It is not easy to find and be prepared for mild hiking, rural driving, and super-natural phenomenon.
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| Where no Ford has gone before. |
GPS Coordinates to the Devil's Tramping Grounds:
+35° 35' 3.54", -79° 29' 13.26" (35.584317, -79.487017) @35.584317,-79.487017
Human Directions:
Take 421 South Approximately 38 miles.
Turn Right onto State Route 902 Follow For about 7 Miles.
Turn Left of Devil's Tromping Grounds Rd. (Not Marked) Follow for 1.7 miles.
You should see a gravel pull off on the left. The Devil's Tramping Ground is about 150 feet down the dirt path.
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| The Devil's Tramping Grounds as it is today. |
