Our first stop takes us to Chatham County, where the legend of the Devil's Tramping Ground has drawn curiosity seekers for generations.

[enchanting music] - The Devil's Tramping Ground is a clearing in the woods where nothing grows.

There's two paths that go off the Tramping Grounds itself.

One of the legends, I think, that most everyone knows is that the devil comes up after midnight, comes up one path, tramps around, and he's conjuring up, you know, like evil thoughts, and then he will eventually go back down the other path.

My name is Tamara Dowd Owens.

We are on my family's farm here in Bear Creek, North Carolina.

My husband Keith and I, we have about 60 head of beef cattle, so we still continue to raise.

It's an active working cattle farm.

The Devil's Tramping Ground is actually located in the furthest corner of the property on the backside.

It's about a hundred feet off of the main highway.

I think a lot of people think that it's much further back in the woods, and they're very surprised to see that it's really not.

When I'm there, I feel uneasy.

It's like a really kind of a sinking feeling.

I've never been up there at night by myself.

I've never stayed up there, ever [laughs].

I go during the day.

You know, once it starts to get dark, I leave.

Sometimes I'll stand in the middle of the circle and just look up at the trees and think, gosh, this is like, I mean, who in the world would ever have come across, you know, anything like this?

Over the years there have been soil scientists that have come out and actually taken, you know, different samples.

- When I first investigated this site over 15 years ago, I was theorizing that there was some natural cause that would've done that.

What we found out here last time is that we did have some elevated readings of certain things inside here, but none of the readings, none of the data we got showed us that plants could not live there.

- So, there's really no... doesn't give us any explanation of why it's like it is now today.

So, what's in front of me right now is actually some newspaper articles that I found in a folder that my dad had.

This really shows how long the Devil's Tramping Ground has been documented, and it even, you know, speaks to, I mean, Chatham County, you know, being an historical county was settled in 1771, and even then there was Chatham natives that were already speaking about it, and there was documentation at that time of this cleared spot surrounded by trees and very barren area.

So, this was another letter that I found in my dad's files, and I don't know, this looks like it may be my grandmother's handwriting.

"Origin of the Tramping Grounds is speculation, but in the fall year 1746, a party of surveyors were in the area.

They made a mark of reference to a point, the center of a circle, and modern maps show it today as the Tramping Grounds."

I mean, it just is astounding that there would be such a reference dated all the way back to 1746.

We developed a website for the Devil's Tramping Ground to educate people on the fact that it is private property, things that we want people to do when they do visit, things not to do when they visit, and have people know that it is, you know, it's very important.

It's a very special place and, you know, we just don't want you to go out there and trash it.

We had so many people visiting it and, you know, people trashing the place.

So, here's some examples.

You can see this brown is actually where I painted.

There's still some remnants of some of the blue spray paint, but there was 666 on this tree, and there was also a tree right there that had the all-seeing eye on it that was facing the circle.

[eerie music] I contacted the state historical group over in Raleigh and had asked if there was any possibility if the Devil's Tramping Ground could be part of the historical sites in North Carolina.

And she said that I should contact this Legends and Lore Society, and it was accepted.

So, it was very, this is just really exciting.

The really sad part of this is that I have not been able to actually install it at the Tramping Grounds just because of concern that somebody would actually steal it.

So here, unfortunately, it continues to sit.

[eerie music] As far as where the Devil's Tramping Ground is today, I feel like I'm more ingrained in it, probably because of social media.

You know, I've seen all these podcasts and YouTubers.

- Are you trapped here?

Okay, step away.

Oh, oh no!

Oh, no way.

- I mean, it's very astonishing that it would have that much of a far reach.

It's like the mystery, I feel like, will continue on.

[enchanting music] - The Devil's Tramping Ground is on Devil's Tramping Ground Road in Bear Creek near Siler City.

The site is open daily, all year long, but overnight stays require a reservation.

There is a fee to visit, and to find out more, go to originaldevilstrampingground.com