A Halloween visit to the 'Devil's Tramping Ground'

CHATHAM COUNTY, North Carolina (WTVD) -- In Bear Creek, there's a circle of land where the ground is barren. Nothing grows and everything that's placed there dies.

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It's known as the Devil's Tramping Ground.

Local legend has it that if something is placed in the middle of the tramping ground, it disappears overnight.

"The old wives tale is the Devil comes up one path and will tread around and then go down the other path," property owner Tamara Dowd Owens said. "I've not had anything move, but I think just the thought of it is kind of scary."

It's a legend Owens grew up hearing her whole life, but there are others.

"One of the legends has it that there is Cherokee Indians, and another type of Indian, had a battle and there was a lot of blood that was drawn and spilled," paranormal fan Jennifer Lawson said.

All of it is a nightmare for the private property owner - for a very different reason.

"Graffiti on the trees, graffiti on the roadway in front, you know people dropping their garbage out," Owens, said, describing the scene. "Just be respectful."

She's pleading with folks to take their trash with them so others can enjoy it - like Lawson, a Forsyth County resident who said she made the road trip back after a freaky experience five years ago.

"We walk through and when I was coming back, my girlfriend took a picture, and behind me, there was a tree, and there was a door opening in that tree," Lawson proclaimed.

While there is a lot to unravel about the mysteries of the Devil's Tramping Ground, all Owens is asking of Halloween thrill-seekers is to keep it tidy.