Tuckertown Lake and Bringle Ferry Rd.

High Rock Dam

I was heading today to High Pines Church Rd. near Fiddler’s Creek Rd. in the Uwharrie National Forest to see if I could locate the 290 acre Birkhead property that has been preserved by the Land Trust of Central NC. But I got sidetracked and spent the afternoon wondering around Tuckertown Lake, below the High Rock Lake Dam on the Yadkin River.


Hydro-electric turbine housing on dam

The Yadkin River is still plenty muddy from all of our heavy winter rains that caused significant flooding but I found a few areas where it’s beginning to clear. Often the muddy water from the western sections of the Yadkin gets filter-out in High Rock Lake or Tuckertown Lake while Badin and Tillery stay fairly clear but that sure didn’t happen this winter. Some locals say the water is the muddiest they have ever seen.

There is a short trail from a picnic and fishing area beside the Yadkin Bridge at Bringle Ferry Rd. up and around the High Rock Dam. You can get a real close-up view of the dam, the churning hydro-electric turbines, and a bird’s eye view of the Yadkin as it flows into its Tuckertown basin.


Yadkin/Tuckertown

Some interesting old homes are along and near to Lick Creek Church Rd. where residents took the Bringle Ferry across the Yadkin before there was a bridge and before the dam. Bringle Ferry Rd. runs off of Hwy 8 several miles north of Hwy 49 in the tiny community of Healing Springs in Davidson County.

(Clink on any photo on this blog to enlarge it)


A sitting stone gathers moss

Birkhead Wilderness Area, Tot Hill Trailhead

Rock outcrops on Coolers Knob

Intertwined beech roots

Talbotts Branch

I remain a homeowner in Greensboro and I am still very active with the Guilford County Open Space Committee but I am spending most of my time in the beautiful Uwharrie National Forest, Morrow Mt. State Park and around the eastern end of the Yadkin River that merges with the Uwharrie River to become the Pee Dee. Fishing and hiking in this region are exceptional and I plan many posts about the attractions, activities and history of this special region of NC.

One of the closest Uwharrie National Forest areas to Greensboro is in Randolph County just outside of Asheboro in the Birkhead Wilderness Area.

To find the Birkhead Wilderness, Tot Hill Trailhead that is part of the Uwharrie National Forest drive down Hwy 220/I-73 South out of Greensboro about 23 miles into Asheboro and take the Hwy 64/Hwy 49 exit off of Hwy 220/I-73. Turn right and head away from Asheboro down Hwy. 49 South (Hwy 64 branches off to the right) for about 6 miles and turn left onto Tot Hill Farm Rd. (You will see a Birkhead Wilderness sign for the Tot Hill Trailhead and another sign directing you to Lassiter Mill Rd. and other Birkhead trailheads.) Go about 2 miles (passing the golf course on your right) and you will see on your right the Tot Hill Trailhead with its small gravel parking lot.

A delightful hike of just over a mile that follows the main white blazed trail takes you along Talbotts Branch and up to the top of Coolers Knob Mountain that is one of the higher Uwharrie peaks at 935 feet.