The Uwharrie Mountains are home to numerous legends and ghost stories passed down through the generations. An upcoming hike and storytelling event will take you into these mountains for an evening filled with legends and ghost tales.
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About the event Click here or scroll below for details of the hike and storytelling event. |
Author Fred T. Morgan captured many stories from the region in his books Ghost Tales of the Uwharries and Haunted Uwharries. These legends encompass a wide range of eerie occurrences and strange phenomena including the sounds of strange hoofbeats on nighttime Uwharrie roads, flashes of silvery light indicating the spot where a farmer was murdered at knife point and the presence of invisible hitchhikers making heavy burdens on wagon horses.
These stories and more are part of the folklore and culture of this ancient Uwharrie landscape, and so to celebrate the region’s haunted heritage, The LandTrust for Central North Carolina will be hosting a ghost tale event on Friday Nov. 1.
The festivities will begin with a late afternoon hike, meeting at 3 p.m. at the Thornburg Trailhead on Lassiter Mill Road. The hike will go into the Birkhead Wilderness Area and venture off the beaten path to see the old Cooper cemetery and hear one of the classic ghost tales of the Uwharries that has been attributed to that spot.
Afterward, the event will continue at the Thornburg House. Built in 1855 and listed on the national historic register, the house is newly restored and recently opened to the public. At the house there will be a cookout and bonfire starting at 5 p.m., with the option to camp out under the stars. As dusk approaches, there will be ghost tales from Charlotte Ross, also known as the “Legend Lady,” a noted storyteller, folklorist and Appalachian State University professor.
Ross has collected more than 400 ghost stories of the Appalachians, researching the people and places that inspire tales of supernatural or strange encounters, which she says gives them an authenticity and “stirs an atavistic fear.”
Ross says “the best legends are those that are redolent with social details so you can look into that time and place for a moment.”
To attend the event, please RSVP by Oct. 25 to crystal@landtrustcnc.org or by phone at 336-633-0143. Scroll below for details.
Where: Thornburg Trailhead, Birkhead Wilderness, 3975 Lassiter Mill Road, Asheboro
What: Ghost tales, hike, cookout
Schedule of Events:
- 3 p.m. – Hike (easy to moderate)
- 5 p.m. – Cookout
- 6 p.m. – Ghost stories with Charlotte Ross
- Option for overnight tent camping at trailhead
