Pittsboro, N.C. — It's a get-back-to-nature place, but it's also a place where some have taken those words to what some call a shocking extreme.

The Indian Creek Nature Trail along Jordan Lake has been a trouble spot for nudity and sexual solicitation for years, officials say.

And because the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission doesn't have enough officers to handle the problems there, the road leading to its entrance and the parking lot for the trail is closed indefinitely.

That's causing a problem for the New Hope Audobon Society, which for 20 years had a viewing platform on an Island at Indian Creek.
The platform blew down in a storm last year, and the group planned to rebuild it.

In light of the illegal activities, however, chapter President Marsha Stephens says the society is considering other locales nearby.

"(Bird-watching) is a very important part of what we do," Stephens said. "We do citizen science, and we want to see what happens to the population of birds."

She calls the naughty behavior an "unfortunate coincidence," referring to the loss of the viewing platform.

Local resident Robert Green says he would just as soon the road stay closed.

"It's just so much stuff going on back in those woods that we just don’t need it open," he said. "We really don't."