The Jonas Ridge Bog – home of the elusive Bigfoot – is one of a limited number of bogs, or wet muddy ground too soft to support a heavy body, remaining in its state, and the Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina recently purchased 17 acres in order to donate the property to the county and preserve the land.

Found in the Southern Appalachian mountains, the Jonas Ridge Bog is a unique place.

“Most people in North Carolina will never see one,” reported the Nature Conservancy. “Although nearly 5,000 acres of bogs were once found in North Carolina, only about 500 acres remain. Many bogs have been lost to draining, ditching, and development.”

The Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina furthers the bog’s specialness.

“Southern Appalachian mountain bogs are rare,” reported the Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina. “At the highest elevations in Burke County, Jonas Ridge Bog is habitat to unique species of plants, animals, and insects.”

This specific bog happens to be home to cranberries and the Mountain Sweet Pitcher Plant, known for eating insects.

It was purchased from Hazel Shell, who inherited the property from her late husband Johnny Shell, with the help of the Clabough Foundation, the North Carolina Clean Water Management Trust Fund, and a private donor. The plan is to add a new hiking trail through the bog.

But Bigfoot…

This project doesn’t come without concern, though. The mountains throughout Burke County are littered with reported sightings of the elusive Bigfoot, or Sasquatch. A cryptid research group, Bigfoot 911, told McClatchy News that there have been eight Bigfoot sightings around the Jonas Ridge Bog over the last five years.

This new hiking trail could bring humans and Bigfoot closer than ever before. No one truly knows how this cryptid interacts with humans, though, resulting in potentially dangerous situations.

There have been reports that Bigfoot isn’t a dangerous creature, but rather curious, often running from confrontation, but other accounts suggest Bigfoot might attack when threatened.

It’s a concerning to bring people out into the wilderness near this area, especially with all the mysterious disappearances happening in the US cave systems.

Even so, this purchase and conservation effort is a massive environmental win for North Carolina. It saves one of the state’s most prized and rare environments.