Devil's Trampling Ground

Sometime before 1800, settlers arriving in Chatham County came across a strange site. About 10 miles east of what is now Siler City, they found a well-worn path that formed a ring 40 feet in diameter. The center of the circle and the ground outside the path were lush and green but nothing grew in the foot-wide track. The settlers found that their dogs would slink away from the path, tails between their legs. People placed sticks and stones in the path, but the path was always found clear the next morning. Known as the Devil's Tramping Ground, the path was believed to be the haunt of Satan who goes there to walk in circles as he thinks up new means of causing trouble for humanity.