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South Mountain State Park Dam, North Carolina
South Mountain State Park Dam on Clear Creek in North Carolina.
Open in BirdTrout35.6406, -81.7515 · Burke County · NID NC00092. Tap the map to open this water in the live app.
What the runs do here
Clear Creek 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
- Recreation
- Completed
- 1950 · modified 2007
- Type
- Earth
- Height
- 57 ft
- Length
- 1500 ft
- Spillway
- None
- Storage
- 610 acre-ft · 13 acre pool
- Drainage
- 2 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
- Clear Creek 0.05 mi from the dam · Wild Trout Waters · wild (NCWRC)
- Shoal Creek 0.79 mi from the dam · Wild Trout Waters · wild (NCWRC)
- Chestnut Flat Branch 1.3 mi from the dam · Wild 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 | 8.4 mi | 66.2 °F | 113 cfs |
| Catawba R Nr Pleasant Gardens, Nc | 17.6 mi | 66.4 °F | 296 cfs |
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 4.5 mi · walk in · Broughton Pond
- North Bend 6.9 mi · boat launch · Catawba River
- Jacob Fork 7.4 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
- Mega Bite Baits 14.0 mi · Valdese · +18285221068
- R & W Carp Juice 15.2 mi · Vale · +17047322493
- Not just Fishin 16.6 mi · Granite Falls · +18287260718
- Buck Creek Trout Farm 23.6 mi · Marion · +18287249612
- Take A Hike Outfitters 31.9 mi · Black Mountain · +18286690811