Cooper Mountain Cemetery is a fairly well kept cemetery located in the middle of the woods in the Birkhead Mountain Wilderness within the Uwharrie National Forest in Randolph County, North Carolina. Detailed directions to the cemetery are given below. Anyone wanting to get to the cemetery should be capable of hiking in wooded domain and be able to ford wet streams which may be impassable after rainy weather. Please be aware that this is designated as a state game land and hunting is allowed in season. The cemetery is marked by a cross bearing the name Cooper Mountain Cemetery and is surrounded by a wire fence with a metal gate. There appear to be approximately thirteen to fourteen field stone markers in the cemetery with the only marked stone being that of a flat marker belonging to Sterling Cooper which reads Pvt North Carolina Militia Revolutionary War with his birth being listed as Feb. 1, 1763 and his death as Sept 16, 1843. The marker resembles those placed by the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) for revolutionary war veterans. A review of DAR records shows a record on a Starling John Cooper with matching birth and death dates having been born in Butte County, North Carolina and having died in Randolph County, North Carolina. The pension number on this record in turn matches that of the pension belonging to Sterling Cooper.

Directions
From Asheboro, North Carolina take NC49 south for approximately six miles. Turn right on Tot Hill Road. Go .25 miles further and at the T intersection turn left on Lassister Mill Road. Follow Lassiter Mill road for approximately five miles until there is a sign for Uwharrie National Forest Wilderness Area Robbins Branch Trail. Turn left at this sign and follow this dirt road until it ends at the Robbins Branch Trailhead. This is a one lane dirt road which will require a pull over if one meets another car on the road. This road has been in extremely bad condition in the recent past due to log trucks entering and exiting here but at the current time it is in a more passable condition. After parking at the trailhead there are two small metal poles marking the entrance to the Robbins Branch Trail. Follow this trail which is currently marked with a white blaze for approximately a half mile until there is a fork in the trail. Follow the right fork which is clearly designated as Hannah's Creek Trail. Follow this trail for approximately a quarter to a half mile until there is a small rock cairn and a tree marked with an orange blaze on the right. This is a spur trail to the Cooper Mountain Cemetery that had not been marked until recently. (A number of five to six foot rocks are on the left a short distance beyond this spur trail on the Hannah's Creek Trail which may be of assistance if the spur trail becomes unmarked in the future.) Follow the spur trail blazed in orange for approximately another half mile until you must ford a creek which will require some rock skipping even in dry weather and may be impassable in wet weather. Approximately one hundred feet beyond the stream and up the hill is the Cooper Mountain Cemetery. Is is directly beside of the trail on the left and is clearly marked. Currently Sterling Cooper's flat marker is surrounded by a number of rocks which makes it more easily visible after leaf fall. GPS coordinates could not be obtained at the time of this hike to the cemetery but the Uwharrie Trail Audio Tour available on line designates the GPS coordinates as 35.58458981 and -79.94138687.