River District Location and Boundaries

The Catawba River District straddles the Catawba River on the border of Mecklenburg and Gaston counties.

Size - The district covers about 16,000 acres in Mecklenburg and Gaston counties including the historic mill-village areas of Belmont and Mount Holly and small part of northwest Charlotte.

River and lakes - Most of the Catawba River in this area lies within Mountain Island Lake to the north and Lake Wylie to the south.

Special features - Within the district lie the U.S. National Whitewater Center, several parks and key junctures of the Carolina Thread Trail.

Major highways - Brookshore Boulevard (N.C. 16), Freedom Drive/Mount Holly Road/Charlotte Avenue (N.C. 27), Wilkinson Boulevard (U.S. 74), I-85 and I-485 (Charlotte outer belt).

The district's boundaries

North - Starting at the Hwy. 16 Bridge on the north, the boundary goes NW across Mountain Island Lake, and then bears left onto Lucia Riverbend Highway.

West - The boundary turns left (south) at Mountain Island Highway (N.C. 273) and proceeds south toward Mount Holly. The boundary follows North and South Main Streets through Mount Holly and into Belmont. The boundary follows the road, also known as Belmont-Mount Holly Road, as it passes west of Belmont Abbey College and crosses I-85. Near Wilkinson Boulevard the road becomes North Main St.

The boundary bears right onto Central Avenue and follows Central south until it becomes South Point Road. The boundary follows South Point Road to Bowen Road. It bears left (east) along Bowen to Lake Wylie.

South - The boundary goes south down the middle of Lake Wylie to Paw Creek Cove, and then follows the cove and Paw Creek NE to Old Dowd Road.

East - The boundary turns left onto Old Dowd Road then right onto Sam Wilson Road. The boundary follows Sam Wilson Road north across U.S. 74 and I-85 to Moores Chapel Road. The boundary turns right and follows Moores Chapel Road to Rhyne Road, just west of the I-485 interchange, then turns left onto Rhyne Road. The boundary continues north along Rhyne Road to Mount Holly Road, then turns left onto Mount Holly Road and proceeds NW to Mount Holly-Huntersville Road. The boundary turns right onto Mount Holly-Huntersville Road and proceeds NE to Bellhaven Blvd. The boundary turns left onto Bellhaven Blvd and heads NW to Hwy. 16. The boundary turns left onto Hwy. 16 and goes to Mountain Island Lake.