Yadkin River
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The Yadkin River is one of the longest rivers in North Carolina. It rises in the northwestern portion of the state near the Blue Ridge Parkway's Thunder Hill Overlook. Several parts of the river are impounded by dams for water, power, and flood control. The river becomes the Pee Dee River at the confluence of the Uwharrie River. The river flows into South Carolina near Cheraw, which is at the fall line where it becomes the Great Pee Dee River. it is part of the yadkin-pee dee river basin
In the upper regions of the river, Moravian settlers from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania began the Wachovia colony in 1753. Between then and the Revolutionary War thousands of settlers came from Pennsylvania using the Great Wagon Road. They were of mostly German and Scots-Irish background.
The river is extensively used for recreation. Fishing consists mostly of sunfish, catfish, largemouth bass and white bass in the spring and early summer. Canoeing and rafting are also possible. A portion of the river flows through Pilot Mountain State Park. Morrow Mountain State Park and the Uwharrie National Forest are along the banks of the river where the river's name changes to the Pee Dee River.
Principal tributaries of the Yadkin include the Reddies, Roaring, Mitchell, Fisher, Ararat and South Yadkin Rivers.[1]
Water supplies for many communities in North and South Carolina are taken from the Yadkin-Pee Dee and during drought years the division of the water is a contentious issue.
Yadkin County, North Carolina, and its county seat, the town of Yadkinville, are named after the river.
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[edit] Lakes created by the Yadkin/Pee Dee River
There are many reservoirs created by damming the Yadkin and Pee Dee rivers within the bounds of North Carolina, and are listed from upstream to downstream:
Many of these lakes generate hydroelectric power, including High Rock Lake and Badin Lake, which are managed by Alcoa under contract with the US Government, under FERC oversight.
[edit] List of Crossings
This is a partial list of crossings of the Yadkin River.
- Caldwell County and Wilkes County
- Multiple Crossings of NC 268 (Yadkin River Road)
- Grandin Road
- Browns Ford Road below the W. Kerr Scott Dam
- US 421 in Wilkesboro
- Curtis Bridge Road in Wilkesboro
- Wilkesboro Avenue (NC 18) in Wilkesboro
- US 421
- Red White and Blue Road
- Clingman Road in Ronda
- Elkin to Salisbury
- South Bridge Street and South Gwyn Avenue in Elkin
- Elkin Bridges of Interstate 77
- US 601 in Crutchfield
- Richmond Church Road
- Crossing in Siloam
- NC 67
- US 421
- Interstate 40 in Bermuda Run
- US 158 in Bermuda Run
- US 64
- US 70/US 29/Interstate 85 at the Yadkin River Bridges in Spencer
- Salisbury to the Pee Dee River
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ >DeLorme (2001). North Carolina Atlas & Gazetteer. Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. ISBN 0-89933-277-3
[edit] External links
General information about many of the dammed project on the river
