Morganton Watershed Dam, North Carolina

Morganton Watershed Dam on the Henry River in North Carolina.

35.6231, -81.7046 · Burke County · NID NC01288. Tap the map to open this water in the live app.

What the runs do here

Henry River carries no anadromous run on our corridor map, so this page makes no claim about salmon or steelhead at this dam. What it sits on is coldwater — resident trout water — and the section below says which classification says so.

The structure

Owner: NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources State
Purpose: Water Supply
Completed: 1939
Type: Concrete
Height: 31 ft
Length: 140 ft
Storage: 150 acre-ft · 24 acre pool
Drainage: 5 sq mi
Condition: Fair · High hazard potential

From the National Inventory of Dams (USACE). Hazard potential is a downstream-consequence classification, not a statement about the structure's condition.

The water above and below

Henry Fork 0.01 mi from the dam · Catch and Release/Artificial Flies and Lures Only Trout Waters · wild (NCWRC)
He Creek 0.15 mi from the dam · Catch and Release/Artificial Flies and Lures Only Trout Waters · wild (NCWRC)

Coldwater designation is the state's own classification. A dam sits on one river and this list is every designated reach within a mile and a half of it, so a tributary mouth shows up here too.

Water right now

Gauge	Distance	Temp	Flow
Catawba R at Sr1223 Bl Lk James Nr Bridgewater, Nc	11.0 mi	66.2 °F	113 cfs
Catawba River at Rhodhiss, Nc	18.5 mi	75.2 °F	—

Live from USGS. A gauge miles away is a gauge miles away — the distance column is there so you can discount it. A hydro dam's releases move the flow below it on a schedule the gauge sees and this page does not.

Getting to it

The dam sits on or beside public land, SPR.

Broughton Pond 3.9 mi · walk in · Broughton Pond
Jacob Fork 4.5 mi · walk in · Jacob Fork Creek

Public access sites near the dam, straight-line distance. A dam itself is private property unless its owner says otherwise; these are the places the state lists as open.

Fly shops nearby

R & W Carp Juice 12.3 mi · Vale · +17047322493
Mega Bite Baits 12.5 mi · Valdese · +18285221068
Not just Fishin 15.6 mi · Granite Falls · +18287260718
Buck Creek Trout Farm 26.4 mi · Marion · +18287249612
Take A Hike Outfitters 34.5 mi · Black Mountain · +18286690811

The river this is on

Henry Fork Live temperature, regulations, hatches and access on the whole river →

Open this water on the map →Every reach around it coloured by today's water temperature, with the access points along it.