Lake Hickory is located downstream of Lake Rhodhiss and northeast of Hickory in Caldwell, Burke, Catawba, and Alexander counties, North Carolina. Lake Hickory has a surface area of about 4,223 acres and 106.4 shoreline miles at full pond elevation of 935 feet msl. Table 4.3-1 summarizes the shoreline classification for Lake Hickory, based on the SMP maps.

There are 5 developed and 1 undeveloped Duke Power-owned public recreation access locations on Lake Hickory. There are 2 city parks operated by the City of Hickory, John Geitner Park and Glen C. Hilton Park, and one county park, River Bend Park, located about 800 feet downstream of the Oxford dam and operated by Catawba County. Figure 4.3-1 shows the public recreation access locations. In addition, there are 7 commercial non-residential marinas that provide additional public access on Lake Hickory. The following sections describe the Duke-owned public access areas, summarize the facilities at the county parks, and provide estimates of the number and type of commercial recreational access facilities at Lake Hickory.

Existing Duke-Owned Public Access Areas

The developed Duke-owned public access areas provide about 222 acres of land and about 20,108 feet of shoreline frontage of public access at Lake Hickory. Combined, the developed access areas have 16 public boat ramps, 9 loading piers, 3 fishing piers, and about 445 parking spaces for car/trailers and 34 spaces for cars. Table 4.3-2 summarizes the facilities at the public access areas. The undeveloped access area provides about 20 acres and 551 feet of shoreline frontage for future public recreational development.

Click Here to View Full Figure 4.3-1 Lake Hickory Public Recreation Access Areas

In the 1994 SMP, Duke Power proposed to improve the Gunpowder access area (replace 1 ramp with 2 new boat ramps and replace the pier), the Lovelady access area (replace 1 ramp with 2 new boat ramps), the Whittenburg access area (replace 3 ramps with 6 new boat ramps, replace the piers with 3 new piers, light the site and provide 165 paved parking spaces), and the Dusty Ridge access area (replace the 2 boat ramps, replace the pier and pave the site). In addition, Duke Power said it would add 5 acres to the Gunpowder site (8 acres added) and add 35 acres to the Lovelady site (42 added). All of the commitments from the 1994 SMP will be completed by the end of 2001. Additional projects that have been completed are the provision of handicapped fishing opportunities at the Whittenburg access area in cooperation with the NCWRC and the relocation of the Long Shoals access area on 53 acres of land (4 new boat ramps, 2 new loading piers, 120 paved parking spaces and lighting of the site).

*   Vehicle/Trailer parking area.
**  Undeveloped site

County and City Public Recreation Facilities

There are one county park and two city park facilities located along the Lake Hickory shoreline. The two city parks, Glen C. Hilton Park and John Geitner Park, are located along the upper portion of Lake Hickory along the southern shoreline and are owned and operated by the City of Hickory. The City of Hickory also has 2 undeveloped park sites on the lake. The River Bend Park is located approximately 800 feet downstream of the Oxford Hydroelectric Station and is operated by Catawba County. Table 4.3-3 summarizes the key characteristics of these facilities.

Existing Commercial and Private Recreation Access

In addition to the Duke-owned public access areas and the state and county parks, the public can gain access to Lake Hickory through commercial non-residential and commercial residential marinas. Private access to Lake Hickory is through private marinas and private piers along the Lake Hickory shoreline. Table 4.3-4 shows the number and type of public and private commercial non-residential and commercial residential marina facilities. Table 4.3-5 shows the estimated number of private piers.

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

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

Gunpowder Access Area

The Gunpowder access area is located in the upper portion of Lake Hickory along the northern shoreline north of Hickory, North Carolina. Table 4.3-6 summarizes key site characteristics for the Gunpowder access area.

Lovelady Access Area

The Lovelady access area is located in the upper middle portion of Lake Hickory along the northern shoreline in Caldwell County, North Carolina. Table 4.3-7 summarizes key site characteristics for the Lovelady access area.

Wittenburg Access Area

The Wittenburg access area is located in the middle portion of Lake Hickory along the northern shoreline, in Alexander County, North Carolina. Table 4.3-8 summarizes key site characteristics for the Wittenburg access area.

Dusty Ridge Access Area

The Dusty Ridge access area is located in the lower portion of Lake Hickory along the northern shoreline in Alexander County, North Carolina. Table 4.3-9 summarizes key site characteristics for the Dusty Ridge access area.

Oxford Access Area

The Oxford access area is located in the lower portion of Lake Hickory along the southern shoreline, just upstream of the Oxford Hydroelectric Station. Table 4.3-10 summarizes key site characteristics for the Oxford access area.

Long Shoals Undeveloped Area

The Long Shoals undeveloped area is located in the middle portion of Lake Hickory along the southern shoreline off Road 1652 in Catawba County, North Carolina. Table 4.3-11 summarizes key site characteristics for the Long Shoals access area.

Recreation Use

Visitation at the public access areas on Lake Hickory 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 Hickory at these sites was about 299,009 visits. Figure 4.3-7 shows the distribution of the visitation for each month at Lake Hickory 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 4.3-12 provides a summary of the estimated recreation visitation based on the traffic counter data for the sampled sites during the 1999 study period. Wittenburg and Oxford were estimated to have the greatest amount of use at about 43 percent and 28 percent, respectively, of the total estimated use at the Lake Hickory Duke-owned access areas.

Spot counts were conducted at five sites for Lake Hickory, Dusty Ridge, Gunpowder, Lovelady, Oxford, and Wittenburg Access areas. Table 4.3-13 lists the number of sample days per month for the spot count 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 1.41 to 1. The estimated overall recreational visitation for Lake Hickory for the 1999 study period totaled 423,317 visits.

The total number of surveys received for each survey is listed in Table 4.3-14. Survey D was conducted of marina operators, therefore numbers of surveys sent and received were low. Figure 4.3-8 shows the distribution of recreation activity type for Survey A, Survey B, and Survey C categories. Figure 4.3-9 shows the distribution of recreation activity type combining data from Surveys A, B, and C, spot counts and tailrace counts. Based on the combined data sources, the primary recreation activities for Lake Hickory during the 1999 study period were bank/pier fishing and boat fishing. For Lake Hickory, respondents indicated that for Survey A, about 4 percent recreated on the islands; for Survey B about 4 percent; and for Survey C, no respondents indicated they recreated on the islands. The combined responses to Surveys A, B, and C indicated that about 2 percent overall recreated on the islands.

For Lake Hickory, the average party size (average number of recreators in each party) for respondents to Survey A was 3.6 people, for Survey B was 3.2 people, and for Survey C was 2.5. The average party size for all three groups (A, B, and C) was 2.9. The average number of visits per year for Survey B was 64.3, for Survey C was 31.4, and for combined Survey B and C was 45.3. The average length of stay for Survey B respondents was 7.1 hours, for Survey C respondents was 4.5 hours, and for combined Survey B and C was 5.6 hours. About 9 percent of the respondents to Surveys A and B indicated that Lake Hickory was the lake they primarily recreated on within the Catawba-Wateree system. For Survey A about 8 percent and for Survey B about 5 percent of the respondents indicated they had land abutting Lake Hickory.

Table 4.3-15 summarizes the perceived crowding ratings for Lake Hickory for each survey type, including responses to Surveys D and E and a combined rating for Survey A, B, and C responses. Recreators on Lake Hickory (Surveys A and B indicated that weekday crowding was about mid-range (on a scale of 1 to 5), and weekend crowding was rated as high for survey respondents to Surveys A and B. For respondents at the public access areas (Survey C), weekday crowding and weekend crowding was rated as low for both time peri