The US National Whitewater Center is one of the ultimate urban adventure sports playgrounds in all of the world. That is a bold statement, but trust me it is true. It may not be in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains or right along the Atlantic Coast, but Charlotte city dwellers can enjoy most of the outdoor sports mountain dwellers and beach goers a few hours away enjoy.
The USNWC is located just 12 miles west of Charlotte, NC on the banks of the Catawba River. It includes 14 miles of mountain bike trails, one of the largest outdoor climbing walls on the east coast, a four-hour canopy tour, numerous zip-lines, flat water kayaking, stand-up paddle boarding, and a world class man-made whitewater park. It has a full service restaurant that is great for people watching and every Thursday night the center hosts the River Jam where they welcome a local band to play on the banks of the man made river.
The rapids at the US National Whitewater Center range from class two to class four. A class one rapid is a flat water lake or pond. A class five rapid is most difficult usually consisting of a sharp turn, a large drop and many under cut rocks. There is no under cut at the USNWC otherwise some of the rapids would be rated more difficult.
The USNWC consists of two channels named the Wilderness and Competition. The Competition Channel is the first channel you see upon entering the facility. It is all class three and class four rapids and consists of three main rapids called Bridge Drop, Pinball Alley, and Big Drop. Big Drop is one rapid that would probably be a class five rapid if it were on a natural river. It is an 8 foot drop coming after a ninety degree turn. The Competition Channel was the site of the qualifying rounds for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.
The Wilderness Channel is the far channel away from the restaurant and is all class two and class three rapids. Some of the rapids on this channel are named Entrance Exam, Dave's Dilemma, Sunset, M-wave and Biscuits-N-Gravy. M-wave is named after a wave on the Colorado River and Dave's Dilemma is named after a raft guide that during guide school had lots of trouble learning to maneuver this rapid.
The trails at the USNWC are another fascinating part of this facility. They bring a different group of people from two entirely different sports, mountain biking and trail running. These two groups add to the unique culture that is shared at this facility. Combining the people that enjoy whitewater rafting and kayaking, with mountain bikers, trail-runners, and rock climbers creates a group of people that are truly unique. This culture is one of the best parts of the Charlotte community and adds a lot to the richness of the city.
Some of the trails at the USNWC include The Green/Lake Loop, North Main Trail, South Main Trail, Toilet Bowl and Carpet Bag. The trails are coded by difficulty level. They are color coded by green, blue and black. Green trails are the least difficult beginner routes, blue trails are moderately difficult and the black routes are very difficult. The black routes are not extremely more difficult than the blue routes, but it is a good idea to get comfortable on the blue routes before jumping right in to the most difficult trails.
The Green/Lake Loop Trail which is great for trail running and as a warm-up for biking the more technical trails later. There are lots of rolling hills and beautiful views along ponds located on the back of the property. The Green/Lake Loop Trail is 3.5 miles in length.
The main route is all blue level in difficulty. It has a north and a south section. In total it covers 5 miles in length. It has some areas that have great views of the Catawba River. There is an area that is perfect for a rest stop right along the Catawba River near the flat-water kayaking section of the facility.
If you pair this route with the green loop it will total 8.5 miles and will take about an hour by bike. I like to ride these three routes together and then go back to the parking lot for some water or Gatorade. After a short rest I then head out to ride one of the trails another time. The Green/Lake Loop is also perfect at this time for a cool-down.
The trail system at US National Whitewater Center were begun eighteen years ago by the Tarheel Trailblazers and Dirt Divas. Throughout the years
these and other groups have contributed to the building and maintaining of the trail system at the USNWC. The next time you see any of these groups please thank them for their commitment to our trails.
The other parts of the US National Whitewater Center include the climbing wall, zip lines and ropes courses designed by Alpine Towers Inc.. This is a part of the USNWC many people do not know about and just about anyone can enjoy. There is a four-hour canopy tour that opened the Summer of 2011. There is the climb to zip where you can climb a telephone pole and then zip to the ground from one of the best views of the facility.
This facility is my favorite part of Charlotte, NC. I found out about it shortly after I moved here in the Summer of 2007. I first enjoyed the facility for the mountain biking trails, but quickly began enjoying the other parts of the USNWC. When you cannot find the time to get away to Asheville or Boone area then spend the day right here in Charlotte enjoying adventure sports right in your backyard.
For further research about this facility you can go to the following websites:
http://www.dirtdivas.net/
http://tarheeltrailblazers.com/
http://usnwc.org/
