Yadkin River
Catchment area of the Yadkin and Pee Dee Rivers
Yadkin River at Elkin, North Carolina
The Yadkin River is 700 kilometers long, one of the longest rivers in the state of North Carolina and the neighboring state of South Carolina in the United States of America. It rises in the northwestern part of the state near the Thunderhill Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Many sections of the river have been dammed up by dams as reservoirs, energy supply or for flood control. After the inflow of the Uwharrie River of Yadkin becomes the Pee Dee River. Located near Cheraw, the river flows approximately at its fall line to the territory of South Carolina and is called from here the Great Pee Dee River.
At the upper reaches of the river Moravian settlers from Bethlehem Pennsylvania settled, they founded in 1753 the Wachovia colony. From then until the War of Independence, thousands of settlers from Pennsylvania in the area, most of the Great Wagon Road ( Big Dipper road). Most of these immigrants were German or Scotch-Irish descent.
The river is mainly used as a recreation area, in the spring and early summer sunfish ( Centrarchidae ) and various cichlid species are fished, kayaking and rafting are also possible. A portion of the river flowing through the Pilot Mountain State Park, Morrow Mountain State Park and the Uwharrie National Forest are located at the junction of the Yadkin Pee Dee River on the banks of the river.
The most important tributaries of the Yadkin River are Reddies, Roaring, Mitchell, Fisher, Ararat and the South Yadkin River. Through many of the dams on the river produces large reservoirs, some of which are the W. Kerr Scott Reservoir, the High Rock Lake, the Tucker Town Reservoir, Badin Lake of, Lake Tillery and Blewitt Falls Lake. Many communities in North and South Carolina get their water from the Yadkin -Pee Dee, and in dry years, the distribution of water is a controversial topic.
Yadkin County and the administrative center of the county, the city Yadkinville are named after the river.