The Mountain Island Park Trail is a gravel and natural surface trail winding through beautiful hardwood forests that offers spectacular views of the Catawba River. The trailhead and gravel parking area is adjacent to the Riverbend Recycling & Transfer Center which offers access to this trail in addition to other trails managed by the City of Mount Holly. The natural surface and gravel trail is 1.5 miles long one-way. The first section of the trail from the trailhead is gravel and is hilly with some steep climbs and descents. Once you make it down to the trail section paralleling the Catawba River the surface is natural with a relatively level slope. Some short climbs and descents exist on this section as well.
The Mountain Island Park Trail is a part of Mount Holly's River Hawk Greenway system. The trail is planned to connect into River Street Park. This will allow users to access this area from downtown Mount Holly or visa versa.
The Mountain Island Park Trail connects to over 7 miles of mountain bike single track trails managed by the local Tarheel Trailblazers mountain bike club. To learn more about these trails please visit: https://tarheeltrailblazers.com/trails/mountain-island-park/
The Mountain Island Park Trail originally began below Mountain Island Dam. This area is currently closed. The information below was provided by the City of Mount Holly:
To facilitate maintenance work on Mountain Island Dam, Duke Energy, in collaboration with N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission and the City of Mount Holly, will temporarily close access to Mountain Island Park at Mount Holly starting on Sept. 7, 2022. The work should be completed by early 2026.
“We will complete a maintenance project on the Mountain Island earth embankment dam to ensure the dam continues to meet all federal guidelines for dam safety,” said Brad Keaton, Duke Energy’s chief dam safety engineer. “The upgrades will also ensure that Mountain Island hydro station and Mountain Island Lake continue providing safe and reliable electricity, water supply and public recreation in the future.”
Duke Energy owns the park but leases it to the City of Mount Holly to manage. In addition, the two fishing piers, managed by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, will close for the duration of the project.
“Both the City of Mount Holly and N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission are wonderful partners, and we will continue to work with them to establish alternative access to the trail system that runs south of Mountain Island Lake Park at Mount Holly,” said Duke Energy project manager, Jennifer Bennett. “We are hopeful that access will be available early next year.”
Duke Energy operates the Mountain Island Hydroelectric Development, which includes the powerhouse, dam, spillway and recreation facilities, under a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission license for the Catawba-Wateree Hydroelectric Project. Duke Energy Carolinas Duke Energy Carolinas, a subsidiary of Duke Energy, owns 20,100 megawatts of energy capacity, supplying electricity to 2.8 million residential, commercial and industrial customers across a 24,000-square-mile service area in North Carolina and South Carolina.
Visit the City of Mount Holly online for more information or contact:
Trailhead and parking area: 146 Mountain Island Rd, Mt Holly, NC 28120 MAP
*Located directly across the street from the Riverbend Recycling & Transfer Center
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