In light of recent unfortunate events surrounding the USNWC I figured I should go ahead and finally give them their well deserved 5-star review. I hesitated until now because frankly there's no way my review will ever be good enough to fully represent the place. Suffice it to say that when someone asks me where they should go when they visit Charlotte this is the very first place that always comes to mind. They say "It's gonna rain though." I say "Doesn't matter, go! It's worth it."
What do they not have? My review will be non-exhaustive. I can't think of everything. The obvious white water rafting and kayaking aside, there's a laundry list of other activities. High and low ropes courses. Ropes obstacle courses. Miles upon miles of trails for walking, hiking, running and mountain biking (some really strenuous ones too). Easy access to the Catawba river for flat water canoeing, kayaking and stand-up paddle boarding. Zip lines galore. Rock climbing with a new over-water rock climbing area soon to comer. Lots of food options with enough beer to fill the whole white water course. A fully equipped outdoors store. To top it all off, live bands for Thursday and Saturday nights throughout the summer months.
There are lots of special events usually involving races of any kind you can think of. I have had plenty an awesome, memorable time out here. There's the 4th of July fireworks show which is preceded by live music. The Green River Revival in which the white water runs green for the day - though I'm not certain they'll do that anymore after the current unfortunate event. They have a summertime trail run series going on. Du and Tri-Athlons. I don't know what else to say. Seriously, just go here. Make a day of it, you will not regret it I promise.