Lake Rhodhiss is just smaller than it’s neighbor to the east (Lake Hickory) and has 90 miles of shoreline with a surface area of approximately 3,060 acres. Some beautiful mountain views can be seen from this lake and full pond elevation is 995.1 feet. There are four public boat access areas and one bank fishing area on the lake in cooperation with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.
Lake Rhodhiss has long been the forgotten lake on the Catawba River chain and really didn’t see any development until the early 2000s. However, in the past 20 years, the Lake has really taken off with several large lakefront communities on the north and south shores of the Lake. Those neighborhoods include the gated communities of Paradise Harbor, Harbor Ridge, and Lake Vista on the south side as well as The Waterfront club, Edgewater, Hayes Mill Landing, and Broadwater on the north side of the lake. All of the communities have available main channel lots. Prices start at $79,900 for a main channel dockable homesite.  Check out this video of the main channel of Lake Rhodhiss
Top reasons to consider Lake Rhodhiss
Thus it has some of the cleanest/clearest waters in the area. Fish and game from the lake are safe to eat and the nearby town of Granite Falls pulls it’s drinking water directly from the lake. Another factor is the small amount of homes on the Lake. With only 100 or so homes on the lake there are many portions of the lake where you are the only person around and with all the protected natural shoreline, lack of waves, and boat traffic the lake continues to be very clean and clear.
Located just north of I-40 in western North Carolina just between the cities of Hickory and Morganton you find yourself right at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Annual snowfall will average between 6 and 10 inches so you can still get a little taste of the mountains but for the most part you are just south of the snow line yet can take in views of the mountains all year round.
Duke maintains that their plan is to keep Lake Rhodhiss a naturalistic lake. With all this vacant land around the lake Wildlife abounds. It’s a daily sight to see beaver, raccoon, blue heron, ducks, and muskrat along the shoreline of this lake. It’s almost impossible to take a drive through the lakefront community of Paradise Harbor and not see one of the several flocks of turkey that live in the pine forest. Tougher to find species but present in the area are whitetail deer, black bear, and soaring bald eagles. This lake is second to none in the area for wildlife viewing.