Lake Rhodhiss is a relatively small lake within the Catawba-Wateree system, located northeast of Morganton in Burke and Caldwell counties, North Carolina. Lake Rhodhiss has a surface area of about 3,060 acres and 97.5 shoreline miles at full pond elevation of 995.1 feet msl. Table 4.2-1 summarizes the shoreline classification for Lake Rhodhiss, based on the SMP maps.

There are five developed Duke Power-owned public recreation access locations on Lake Rhodhiss and the Marsh Project area, leased by Duck's Unlimited and the State of North Carolina. Figure 4.2.1 shows the public recreation access locations. In addition, there is one commercial non-residential and one commercial residential marina that provide additional public access on Lake Rhodhiss. The following sections describe the Duke-owned public access areas and provide estimates of the number and type of commercial recreational access facilities at Lake Rhodhiss.

Existing Duke-Owned Public Access Areas

The developed Duke-owned public access areas provide about 247 acres and about 15,756 feet of shoreline frontage of public access at Lake Rhodhiss. Combined, the developed access areas have 11 public boat ramps, 6 loading piers, and about 350 car/trailer and 20 vehicle parking spaces. Table 4.2-2 summarizes the facilities at the public access areas. The NCWRC, under an agreement with Duke Power, maintains all of the access areas on Lake Rhodhiss.

Click Here to View Full Figure 4.2-1 Lake Rhodhiss Public Recreation Access Areas

In the 1994 SMP, Duke Power proposed improving the Castle Bridge access area (replace 1 ramp with 6 new ramps, replace 2 piers with 3 new piers and add 150 paved parking spaces), relocate the Tator Hole site (add 4 new ramps, two loading piers and add 100 paved parking spaces). In addition, Duke Power said it would add 5 acres of land at Castle Bridge (45 acres added), add 20 acres to the Conley Creek site (64 added) and provide 100 acres at the relocated Tator Hole site (now called the Rhodhiss site where 127 acres were provided). All of the commitments were met except for the provision of 4 boat ramps at the Rhodhiss site where, after consultation with the NCWRC and FERC, only 2 ramps and 1 pier were provided initially.

* Vehicle/Trailer parking areas

State and County Public Recreation Facilities

The Marsh Project area is located in the upper portion of Lake Rhodhiss, upstream of the Huffman Bridge access area. The Marsh Project area is leased by Duck's Unlmited and the State of North Carolina and has about 27 acres and 4,000 feet of shoreline. The area provides opportunities for viewing wildlife and scenery.

Existing Commercial and Private Recreation Access

In addition to the Duke-owned public access areas, the public can gain access to Lake Rhodhiss through commercial non-residential and commercial residential marinas. Private access to Lake Rhodhiss is through a private marina and private piers along the Lake Rhodhiss shoreline. Table 4.2-3 summarizes the number and type of public and private commercial non-residential and commercial residential marina facilities. Table 4.2-4 summarizes the estimated number of private piers.

Site-Specific Descriptions of Existing Duke-owned Public Access Areas at Lake Rhodhiss

The following section provides a description of each Duke-owned public access area at Lake Rhodhiss, including a photograph, site characterisitics, site recreation facilities, and key recreation activities.

Johns River Access Area

The Johns River access area is located in the upper portion of Lake Rhodhiss off Highway 18/64 near Chesterfield, North Carolina. Table 4.2-5 summarizes key site characteristics for the Johns River access area.

Huffman Bridge Access Area

The Huffman Bridge access area is located in the upper portion of Lake Rhodhiss along the northern shoreline in Burke County, North Carolina. Table 4.2-6 summarizes key site characteristics for the Huffman Bridge access area.

Castle Bridge Access Area

The Castle Bridge access area is located in the middle portion of Lake Rhodhiss along the northern shoreline in Caldwell County, North Carolina. Table 4.2-7 summarizes key site characteristics for the Castle Bridge access area.

Conley Creek Access Area

The Conley Creek access area is located in the lower portion of Lake Rhodhiss along the northern shoreline in Caldwell County, North Carolina. Table 4.2-8 summarizes key site characteristics for the Conley Creek access area.

Rhodhiss Access Area

The Rhodhiss access area is located in the lower portion of Lake Rhodhiss near the Rhodhiss dam and hydroelectric station in Burke County, North Carolina. Table 4.2-9 summarizes key site characteristics for the Rhodhiss access area.

Recreation Use

Visitation at the public access areas on Lake Rhodhiss was derived based on estimates of the traffic entering the Duke-owned public access areas. Total estimated visitation during the 1999 study period for Lake Rhodhiss at these sites was about 228,010 visits. Figure 4.2-7 shows the distribution of the visitation for each month at Lake Rhodhiss for the Duke-owned public access areas during the 1999 study period. A visit is considered a vehicle or vehicle/trailer entering the site for any part of a day.

Table 4.2-10 shows the estimated recreation visitation based on the traffic counter data for the sampled sites during the 1999 study period. Of the Lake Rhodhiss Duke-owned access areas, Castle Bridge, Rhodhiss, and Conley Creek were estimated to have the greatest amount of use at about 51 percent, 22 percent, and 15 percent, respectively, of the total estimated use at the Lake Rhodhiss Duke-owned access areas.

Spot counts were conducted at 3 locations on Lake Rhodiss, Conley Creek, Johns River and Rhodiss Access Areas. Table 4.2-11 lists all of the spot count sites with the number of days per month of data collection.

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Based on survey data input, the estimated ratio for annual visits to the project area for Survey B respondents (respondents that use both public and private access areas) compared to Survey C respondents (respondents at the public access areas) was about a ratio of 1.27 to 1. The estimated overall recreational visitation for Lake Rhodhiss for the 1999 study period totaled 288,655 visits.

The total number of surveys received for each survey is listed in Table 4.2-12. Survey D was conducted of marina operators, therefore numbers of surveys sent and received were low. Figure 4.2-8 shows the distribution of recreation activity type for Survey B and Survey C categories. (There were no respondents for Lake Rhodhiss for Survey A since there are only three private piers on the lake). Figure 4.2-9 shows the distribution of recreation activity type combining data from Surveys B and C, spot counts, and tailrace counts. Based on the combined data sources, the primary recreation activities for Lake Rhodhiss during the 1999 study period were motor boating, boat fishing, bank/pier fishing, and swimming. For Lake Rhodhiss, about 17 percent of Survey B and 0 percent of Survey C respondents indicated they recreated on the islands. The combined responses to Surveys B and C indicated that about 3 percent overall recreated on the islands.

For Lake Rhodhiss, the average party size (average number of recreators in each party) for respondents to Survey B was 4.5 people and for Survey C was 2.6. The average party size for both B and C was 2.9. The average number of visits per year for Survey B was 31.5, for Survey C was 23.2, and for combined Survey B and C respondents was 24.5. The average length of stay for Survey B respondents was 6.8 hours, for Survey C respondents was 4.6 hours, and for combined Survey B and C respondents was 4.9 hours. About 2.4 percent of the respondents to Survey B indicated that Lake Rhodhiss was the lake they primarily recreated on within the Catawba-Wateree system.

Table 4.2-13 summarizes the perceived crowding ratings for Lake Rhodhiss for each survey type, including responses to Surveys D and E and a combined rating for Survey B and C responses. Recreators on Lake Rhodhiss (Surveys B and C) indicated that weekday crowding was about mid-range (on a scale of 1 to 5) and weekend crowding was rated as relatively high for survey respondents to Survey B, and low for respondents at the public access areas (Survey C). There was only one Survey D response rating the crowding on Lake Rhodhiss, and the lake rescue and management groups were asked for crowding ratings only for the higher use lakes within the Catawba-Wateree system, including James, Hickory, Norman , Wylie and Wateree.

* Weighted Average

Boating Use

Figure 4.2-10 shows the distribution of boating activity type for Lake Rhodhiss based on Surveys B and C individually comparing the percentage of each boating activity type to the overall boating use. The average boating party size was 4.9 for Survey B, 2.5 for Survey C, and 2.9 for the combined responses for Surveys B and C. The average number of hours boating was indicated as 6.4 hours for Survey B, 4.7 hours for Survey C, and 5.0 hours for the combined responses for Surveys B and C.

Of the individuals surveyed who primarily recreated on Lake Rhodhiss, 100 percent of the Survey B respondents and about 78 percent of the Survey C respondents owned boats. For the combined responses for Surveys B and C, about 82 percent of the respondents owned boats.

Table 4.2-14 summarizes the distribution of boat ownership by type of boat for Lake Rhodhiss. Motor boats comprised over 57 percent of the boat ownership compared to the other boat categories, followed by jet skis at about 17 percent. The ownership of motor boat types was about 38 percent for small motor boats (ranging 20 feet or less in size) and about 19 percent for medium motor boats (ranging between 21 to 40 feet in size).