Uwharrie National Recreation Trail

The Uwharrie National Recreation Trail offers a variety of scenery, streams and rocky terrain. The trail can be hiked in long or short sections, as the trail crosses several access points. The trail is marked with white blazes.

Length: 20 miles (Uwharrie Trail); 11.5 miles (Dutchman's Creek Trail)
Recommended Season: Year Round
Use: Medium to Heavy
Difficulty: Easy to Moderate

Trail Beginning: At the southern end there is trailhead parking on NC Highway 24/27, 10 miles west of Troy.

Trail End: At the northern end there is trailhead parking on SR 1306 (Flint Hill Road), 2 miles east of Ophir.

Access: Three main trailheads provide access to  the trail. These include the beginning and ending points, and one on NC Highway 109, eight miles northwest of Troy. Other roads also cross the trail, which have limited parking.  These other access points are located at Yates Place Camp on Dusty Level Road (SR 1146) and Tower Road (SR 1134).

Attractions and Considerations:  Dutchman's Creek Trail, marked with yellow blazes, starts at the same point as the Uwharrie Trail, at the parking lot on Biscoe Road, and was constructed as a loop system to be used as an alternate route when hiking the southern portion of the Uwharrie Trail. Dark Mountain, on the northern portion of the trail offers an excellent western view. Camping areas along the trail include Wood Run Hunt Camp, Yates Place Camp, West Morris Mountain Campground and other primitive camps. Old home sites, cemeteries, and gold mines exist along or near the trail.

Hikers can thank an old-time trapper's son, Joe Moffit of Asheboro, for this trail. He blazed it over 25 years ago. Moffit grew up in the Uwharrie Mountains during the Great Depression and learned to live off the land at an early age. Moffit was a Scoutmaster when he started the Uwharrie Trail project in 1972 to help his Boy Scouts earn their Eagle rank. They completed the now well-known path in 1975 and founded the Uwharrie Trail Club.

There are plenty of streams in the forest, but all drinking water should be treated with a water purification kit before use. Ticks plague the forest and can be kept at bay with repellent or the new mesh clothing on the market. Always keep a watch for the timber rattlesnakes and copperheads that live in these woods.

At a Glance