Lake Norman lowdown?

hawgwash

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Nov 25, 2014
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I’ve seen Lake Norman NC referenced a few times and was curious enough to look it up.

Living on close to 20,000 miles of coast, which is impossible to see in a lifetime, Lake boating is not something I’ve done much of: Lake Powell UT which is pretty spectacular and Lake Havasu, the boater’s version of Sturgis, without the arse acreage.

So, Mike and others, tell me about it…
It looks very populated; is anchoring in all the little bays acceptable and do the locals and the boaters mix well?
Is most of the shoreline private?
Many places to beach?
How far north towards Rhodhiss can you go?
What’s all the brown water at the Rhodhiss dam? Cattle land? Lol…
What’s the deepest?

If you know; when they built the Cowans Ford Dam, did they mow the trees down or just flood it as is? A lot of dammed lakes “out west" have millions of Danforths embedded in the bottom.
 
I have been to LN a few times but wont know as much as the locals that will certainly chime in here.

They don't do much anchoring/rafting.
Most of the shoreline is private with beautiful homes.
I have not seen any beaches myself.
Most of the lake seems to be shallow (5-30' maybe).

Just my .02 cents from my few visits.
 
Al the lakes along the Catawba river are landlocked including LKN. There are no ways to portage via the water from lake to lake as there are no locks. The local LKN boaters can fill you in on the rest.
 
Lake Norman has many areas that are very very deep, 200' plus from what I remember near the dam. When my parents lived there I took a bow rider up and we did anchor in a couple of coves but only for a short time to swim, hang out etc. Beautiful lake and beautiful homes. LOTS of crazies on the lake IMO. Be careful as you have large offshore looking speed boats that tear up and down the lake mixed with pontoon boats and nobody knows the rules of the road it seems. Land locked lake.
 
LKN is the cooling tower for the Nuclear power plant, albeit a beautiful one!
 
I've been on Lake Norman for about 15yrs.

-Cowens Ford dam was completed in 1964. Primary purposes are 1. Cooling for Duke Energy's McGuire Nuclear Plant 2. water for the McGuire Hydro Electrick Station 3. Water for Marshall Steam Plan.
- The lake was mostly clear cut before it was flooded. But still a lot of things had to be re-located, cemeteries, farmhouses etc. - - Davidson College has kept a nice history of the pre-post area of the lake. http://sites.davidson.edu/archives/community/under-lkn
- Deepest areas of the lake are around 110ft.
- 520mi of shoreline
- Lots of islands and shoals, but it is marked well.
- Even in the 15yrs I have been there it was really grown up, most of the shoreline has houses. A lot of the coves we used to overnight in on our cruiser 10yrs ago are now lined with houses, but still plenty of places to anchor / raft. Like most lakes there is a "sand bar" for the party crowed and other areas that the relaxers and the skiers hang out. You can still find a quiet cove. South side of the lake is more croweded / developed than the north.
- Lots of marinas on the lake - floating and dry storage.
- Plenty of restaurants you can boat to.
- Can be very busy on summer weekends - main channels like a busy coastal area, but very calm outside of summer months and on weekdays. You will see everything from small runabouts and pontoons upto 50-60ft cruisers and bigger houseboats.

We live in Charlotte (20mi south), but have kept a 30ft SeaRay at a marina and now a SeaRay bowrider in dry storage. If it weren't for my work being in south Charlotte we would probably live at the lake.
 
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Every thing Bill said. LKN is a large lake with alot of coves to hang out in. There are party coves and family coves. Everyone seems to tollerate each other. There is every kind of water bourne vessel on Lake Norman, and everyone going in different directions at once. You would think there is accidents everyday, but there isn't.

There are all kinds of restraunts to visit on LKN, range from pretty fancy to burger bars. The lake is big enough to cruise, but you can still run from one end to the other and back in a day.
I come from boating in the ocean (Florida), and I love traveling the ICW, and visiting areas along the coast. Lake Norman is big enough, and interesting enough to satisfy my needs, untill I get my costal fix.

The water on LKN is very clean, and rarely gets clay/muddied up. Funny thing, older locals think the lake is polluted, but Mt Island lake is clean.......Mt Island lake water is feed from LKN!!! Lol

If you ever get down this way, look me up. I'd be proud to give you a ride around. Heck that goes for anyone here! Except Woody......I'm kidding Woody, you to. Lol
 
Unless you are bringing hot women LKN is filled up.
 
Unless you are bringing hot women LKN is filled up.

No threat there.
Seems silly to go all the way across the country when I can just saunter down the coast a bit to the Portland zoo.
 
Ah Jim, in Cornelius you have y'alls quota of beautiful women......don't really need any more, unless we can get some with alittle lower standards!! haha

This is related to my recent purchase of our 340....according to the broker that coordinated the sale the PO spent almost every WE on the boat with his previous wife....he said they both loved the boat..... Well the marriage fell apart and the guy landed a new 'trophy wife' a short time later....the problem is the 'new' wife said she wanted nothing to do with the boat and the only boat she would get on is a 65' yacht......as result the 'new' wife convinced the PO he needed to sell the boat....I was in the right place at the right time and was able to purchase the 340 for several thousand $$ less than the loan value since he wanted a quick sale.....

moral of the story is yes we have an abundance of beautiful women in this area but not all share our fondness for the boating lifestyle...

cliff
 
What a beautiful indian summer day on LKN today. The sun was shining, and I could feel the warmth thru the isinglass. I took a slow cruise up lake, it was great. Tommorrow is supposed to be just as nice. I'll be on the boat again tommorrow too. Actually my marina was alive with people getting their boats out. I saw a couple of boats move today that I haven't seen move most of the summer. Nice.
 
What a beautiful indian summer day on LKN today. The sun was shining, and I could feel the warmth thru the isinglass. I took a slow cruise up lake, it was great. Tommorrow is supposed to be just as nice. I'll be on the boat again tommorrow too. Actually my marina was alive with people getting their boats out. I saw a couple of boats move today that I haven't seen move most of the summer. Nice.
Nice.
I can't imagine not being able to boat year round.
Thanks for the lowdown on your little piece of paradise.
 
Yea the boys in the great white north have it tough. I'd be lost if I couldn't get on the boat at least a couple of times thru the winter.
The last couple of days have been great. Alot of folks at the marina again today. I even smelled a bbq going. Lol
 
We cruised over to North Harbor Club for lunch yesterday. There were quite a few boats out and even some waverunners. Beautiful day. Hard to beat 62 and sunny in late December!
 
You need to check out Smith Mountain Lake in Va. 450 miles os shore line and the water is very deep and stays cold even in the summer. And best of all the water is very clean !

Smith Mountain is a beautiful lake. We almost built a house there in the nineties.

...and if you like to fish, its one of the meccas for striper.

Very hectic on the summer weekends I hear though.
 
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If it's a Mecca for strippers, look out for Jerry!
 

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