98 Big Creek

    There is a spot along Hwy. 123 south of Piercetown where Big Creek is right next to the highway, with a big parking area.  We have driven past here many times and always say ‘someday we’ll stop and check it out’.  Well, today we do just that.  It’s a gorgeous location on Big Creek but from the parking area on the highway you can’t really get down to the water, and to make things worse someone has been dumping trash all along here, but we’re not giving up just yet.

    We backtrack less than a quarter mile to the first road down to Big Creek and a concrete low water bridge, on some maps this is called Bethlehem Road (NC 4515).  Just across the bridge are fields on both sides of the road and seldom used access paths (you can’t really call them ‘roads’) going both north and south.

    We head south back towards that gorgeous spot we saw from the highway.  The ‘road’ soon enters the woods and comes to a fork with ‘private property’ postings on the left fork, so we take the right fork which soon turns into a narrow ATV trail at a nice big campsite.  This is where we park, we can see Big Creek through the trees at the campsite.

    Up the ATV trail for about 100 yards, we find a clear path down the short but steep bank to Big Creek right at that gorgeous spot we could see from the highway.  Sure enough, this looks like we could swim here not real deep but deep enough, but the problem is the bank.  It’s pretty muddy with a lot of downed trees pinned against this side and on top of that we’re in the direct sun.  Plenty of shade back up the muddy bank but not down here next to the creek.

possible beach on Big Creek (pic taken in Jan. 2023)

    We decide to head back to the truck and check out the north 'road’.  Pretty much the same here on the north road, first through the small field then we come to a fork.  This time the left fork immediately descends the short steep bank and crosses Big Creek, we take the right fork, and the road ends at another nice campsite or possibly a couple campsites.

    We park and walk down a short steep rocky trail to a small backwash area (cove) off Big Creek.  With low bluffs behind and boulders at the water’s edge this is a lovely spot on the creek and with plenty of shade.  But I can’t say this is a swimming hole, more of a ‘wildlife habitat’ especially inviting for turtles, frogs and snakes, we head back to the truck.

Big Creek swimming hole below the highway (Jan. 2023)

    Turning at the fork in the road, we cross Big Creek which is less than a foot deep today.  To the left (upstream) a couple hundred yards is a shallow hole up against the west bank under a very low bluff.  This could be a nice spot for the kids to play in the water with good shade in the afternoon.  We turn back to the north as I’m wondering if we can drive along the creek to the Buffalo.

    The answer is no, the road quickly gets choked out with brush, so we park and continue on foot.  We don’t get very far it’s getting close to noon and very hot and sunny.  We still haven’t done any swimming today, so we head back to the truck, on the way deciding to head over to Riggs Hole at Hasty to cool off.  This lower Big Creek area definitely has lots of potential even though the holes we found are on the small side, the nice campsites and scenery make it an area not to be overlooked.