The fellow who envisioned the Uwharrie Trail and most responsible for its creation, Joe Moffitt was honored today at a ceremony in Ophir and later at a Trailhead dedicated to him. The event was organized by Crystal Cockman and The Land Trust for Central North Carolina. For several years Cystal, the Land Trust and a number of volunteers and other organizations have worked to reconnect the original Uwharrie Trail route. During the 1980's a lengthy section of the trail was abandoned, splitting the trail into two shorter trails, the Uwharrie Trail 20.6 miles and Birkhead Mountain Trail 5.6 miles. The gap is about 11 miles
About 40 people attended the very pleasant ceremony at the Ophir Community Center. Joe Moffitt, at 89 years old, spoke of how he with the help of boy scouts and several others, put the trail and campsites together back in the late 60's.
When I first moved to the area in 1975, I hiked the trail one weekend, end to end, except for the 2 mile road walk. It is very exciting to see this trail come back together now.
After the ceremony, several of us walked on the first section of newly constructed trail over Little Long Mountain.
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