The Haunting of Purgatory Mountain

Deep within the Uwharrie Mountains, on the wooded trails surrounding the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro, local legend says something is still hunting. In this episode of the Signs and Shadows Podcast, Bud Shropshire and Brandon Butler investigate The Haunting of Purgatory Mountain and the terrifying legend of “The Hunter.” During the Civil War, Peter Garner was a Confederate conscript assigned to guide soldiers through Randolph County in search of deserters hiding in the mountains. Garner became so successful and so feared that people began calling him “The Hunter.” After he was violently killed in 1864, stories began spreading about a large, dark figure wandering Purgatory Mountain before dawn, as though The Hunter were still searching for his next prisoner. Today, the Purgatory Mountain Trails wind for nearly five miles through the forests, creeks, and rocky terrain surrounding the North Carolina Zoo. But some believe these are more than ordinary hiking trails. Visitors and local storytellers have described strange figures, unexplained sounds, and the unsettling feeling that something is following them through the woods. Who was Peter Garner? What really happened to him? Is his ghost haunting the trails near the NC Zoo—or could something else be using his story and appearance? Join us as we separate documented Civil War history from Randolph County folklore, explore the alleged haunting of the Purgatory Mountain Trails, and examine what the Bible teaches about ghosts, familiar spirits, and the unseen realm. The Haunting of Purgatory Mountain: The Hunter of the NC Zoo Trails Watching the signs. Exposing the shadows. Pointing everything back to Jesus Christ.