Uwharrie National Forest

Pronounced You-Har-E which means Spider Web in the Mouth

In my opinion a national forests can go one of three ways:
1. National Forests can be a secluded jewel where privacy and solitude engulf you like a blanket
2. National Forests can be tourist traps where nature is overrun by every Tom, Dick, and Harry
3. They can fall between these two extremes.

I searched the internet looking for a follow up trip to our South Mountain State Park trip and wanted something that would provide the distance we lacked on our previous trip but maybe without some of the intensity. Uwharrie is where I was directed. I was attracted to the length of the trails as well as the favorable reviews. I knew going into this trip that it was a high use area, but somehow or another that tidbit of information slipped my mind... that's really a shame.

Uwharrie is pretty conveniently located under 90 minutes from Charlotte. Most of the websites I had seen pointed me towards Troy, NC and mentioned Asheboro, so I thought it was near the zoo. In actuality it is a lot closer than that (depending on how you get there). We drove towards Albemarle, past Reid Gold Mine, and just kept on going... It wasn't a bad drive at all.

Parking is located directly off the highway and there seems to be more than ample parking at the main trail head for the Uwharrie Trail as well as Dutchman's Trail for at least 15 vehicles, although there is a field where several people were also parking... I would guess that you could easily fit 75 cars if this whole area were to be used.

Our original plan was to hike the Dutchman's trail to the designated campsite but once we inspected a more legible map than the one available on the website (http://www.cs.unca.edu/nfsnc/recreation/uwharrie/index.htm) we decided to change our plans significantly. Something about camping around a bunch of cars and campers didn't sit right with me or work with my idea of escaping any sounds other than those of the woods. Furthermore, in the parking lot a group of Boy Scouts (or just early teenagers) was loading up and we wanted to ensure that we were as far away from them as possible. Our revised plan of action was to hike the Dutchman's Trail until we intersected the Uwharrie Trail. We planned on taking the Uwharrie Trail then until we hit the published campsite about 1.5 miles from the parking lot. My rough finger measured calculations gave us a 8+ mile first day and shorter second day. We were pretty satisfied with this plan. With fully loaded water bladders we set out on the trail.

I don't know what your backyard looks like, but if you have a bunch of trees that you walk through over a narrow 10" path, then you have already experienced the Dutchman's Trail. This trail is forged along an old hunting/gaming path. The beginning of the trail extremely easy. Within an hour of very easy hiking you come to the first primitive campsite on the Dutchman's Trail. There are numerous of these coming up. We stopped at this first campsite and relaxed for a bit, snapping a couple of photos and took in a quick snack.

From this point we started to go uphill... I don't believe it was a tough climb but it just sort of came out of nowhere from the slight rolling hills we had been experiencing. The remainder of the Dutchman's Trail remained this way, I would rate the first mile or so as a 2-10 whereas the rest is easily a 6 or 7/10 as far as difficulty. Maybe the early part is why so many people list it overall as a 5/10. The Dutchman's Trail continues to cross a gravel road numerous times... completely destroying the illusion of being in the wilderness. At other points it runs parallel to the road where bikers can be seen and heard. For me this is the same as seeing a boom microphone in a shot when watching a movie. It destroys the illusion. Regardless, we continued hiking until we intersected the Uwharrie Trail and made a left. The Uwharrie trail had numerous primitive campsites throughout but it just continued the same view of a walk through the woods. We ended up camping not far from the road that the bikers travelled through (by not far I mean about 40'). The next morning we made our way out.

I am sort of split in my opinion of Uwharrie National Forest. Maybe there is a lot more diversity in some of the other areas we didn't reach, but it seemed like the most redundant views I have ever seen. We all commented about how boring the hike was, just not enough diversity (or any at all).

Water was rather sparse as we were warned prior to arriving. The several times we crossed streams they were extremely shallow or had borderline still water (I'm sure that filtered it would have been adequate). Wildlife was nonexistent with the exception of the bikers we saw as well as the numerous hikers on the paths. Certainly not a place where you feel alone or out of reach from civilization. At night a group set off numerous fireworks and disrupted the peace that should have been found. We did see what we assume to be a copperhead sunning himself on the trail and avoided disturbing him successfully. To say that seeing a sleeping snake on the trail was the highpoint of hours on trail is sort of a disappointment.

One special note regarding this trail... and I guess this sort of could be a good thing but the early sites (1/8th of a mile to 1/2 mile from the parking lot) all seemed to have a lot of people at them. The further campsites were barren (although sound really travels here). As the lead hiker in our group I walked face first into 74 spider webs on the trail... and yes, I did count. This does show that we laid first footprints of the day on a good amount of the trails we hiked but there comes a certain point where it just becomes a little much. I think that was around spider web number 11 when my wife asked me to stop counting... Good thing for me she is a patient woman who accepts my quirks.

Once again, most likely way more detail than anyone needs. I try to do my best to direct people in the right direction. I would personally say that I was not crazy about this trail and my wife downright didn't enjoy it (she enjoyed the being outdoors but not the trail, monotony, or the lacking views at all). I would say that we would most likely not return here simply for the lack of diversity, although I might consider it for a day hike depending on what I was in the mood for. There are numerous trail blazes and with few exceptions, it is an easy trail to follow (I would imagine it being much tougher in autumn). I really like the proximity of this location but not the actual experience of being there, it is almost the cereal box that you buy because of the toy inside.

Difficulty: 6/10
Beauty: 3/10
Location Convenience: 7/10
Return Factor: 2/10

Physical Address of Parking Lot/Trail Head: I don't have an exact address (because it is right off of 24/27). The best thing I can say is that if you follow 24/27 West from Troy, NC in 9 miles you cannot miss the trailhead on your left hand side.

Link to Trail Map: http://www.cs.unca.edu/nfsnc/recreation/uwharrie/index.htm

Happy Trails!

Jeremy