Hydropower is more than just America’s leading generator of clean, renewable electricity.

Throughout America, countless hydropower facilities are providing recreational opportunities in their communities. For example, in North Carolina, Duke Energy successfully developed the Pines Recreation Area and High Falls Trail as part of the West Fork Hydroelectric Project. Visitors now have access to a hiking and whitewater boating access trail, fishing pier, picnic facilities, educational and historical signage, and a swim beach.

Additionally, the hiking trail, which has been recognized as one of the most well-constructed, minimally invasive and scenic in the region, offers 0.8 miles of scenic downhill trail to the spectacular 120-foot High Falls waterfalls and the West Fork Tuckasegee River gorge.

In Spokane, Washington, Avista Corporation developed the Huntington Park and Spokane Tribal Gathering Place. Previously a parking lot, the Spokane Tribal Gathering Place connects the transformed Huntington Park to the city’s Riverfront Park, allowing the public access to the Spokane River Lower Falls for the first time in 100 years. Today, visitors can access the Lower Falls and along the way experience interpretive signs, sculptures, and artifacts that depict the area’s history, including Native American, European American and hydroelectric development.

From family picnic areas to fishing, no other renewable enriches our communities by providing recreational opportunities, like hydropower.