Tallest Dams in North Carolina

North Carolina has 3366 dams with recorded heights. The tallest is Fontana Dam at 480 feet. Taller dams impound more water and carry greater potential energy, which is why height is a key factor in hazard classification and inspection requirements.

#	Dam	County	Height (ft)	Type	Purpose	Hazard	Year
1	Fontana Dam	Graham	480	Concrete	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1944
2	Hiwassee Dam	Cherokee	307	Concrete	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1940
3	Nantahala	Macon	250	Rockfill	Hydroelectric	High	1942
4	Cheoah	Graham	236	Gravity	Hydroelectric	High	1919
5	Santeetlah	Graham	216	Arch	Hydroelectric	High	1928
6	Bear Creek	Jackson	215	Earth	Hydroelectric	High	1954
7	Walters	Haywood	208	Arch	Hydroelectric	High	1929
8	Bee Tree Lake Dam	Buncombe	182	Earth	Water Supply	High	1927
9	Wolf Creek	Jackson	178	Earth	Hydroelectric	High	1955
10	Cedar Cliff	Jackson	173	Earth	Hydroelectric	High	1952
11	Belews Lake Dam	Rockingham	170	Earth	Other	High
12	Paddy Creek Embankment	Burke	165	Earth	Hydroelectric	High	1919
13	Linville	Burke	160	Earth	Hydroelectric	High	1919
14	Catawba	Burke	150	Earth	Hydroelectric	High	1919
15	Apalachia Dam	Cherokee	150	Concrete	Hydroelectric	High	1943
16	Chatuge Dam	Clay	150	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1942
17	Thorpe	Jackson	150	Rockfill	Hydroelectric	High	1941
18	W. Kerr Scott Dam	Wilkes	148	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1963
19	Waynesville Water Supply Dam	Haywood	142	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1982
20	Mountain Island	Gaston	140	Gravity	Hydroelectric	High	1923
21	Belews Creek Active Ash Basin Dam	Stokes	135	Earth	Tailings	High	1971
22	North Fork Reservoir Dam	Buncombe	134	Earth	Water Supply	High	1954
23	Cowans Ford	Mecklenburg	134	Concrete	Hydroelectric	High	1963
24	Tuxedo Hydroelectric Dam	Henderson	129	Concrete	Hydroelectric	High	1920
25	Lake Lure Dam	Rutherford	124	Concrete	Hydroelectric	High	1927
26	Oxford	Alexander	122	Gravity	Hydroelectric	High	1928
27	Cliffside Active Ash Basin Downstream Dam	Cleveland	120	Earth	Tailings	High	1972
28	Yadkin Falls	Montgomery	120	Gravity	Hydroelectric	High	1919
29	Asu-norris Branch Dam	Watauga	112	Earth	Water Supply	High	1974
30	Mayo Active Ash Basin Dam	Person	110	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High
31	Shearon Harris Nuclear Power Plant Main Dam	Chatham	108	Earth	Hydroelectric	Significant	1983
32	Lake Julian Dam	Buncombe	106	Earth	Hydroelectric	High	1962
33	Randleman Dam	Randolph	102	Earth	Recreation	High	2002
34	Asheville 1964 Ash Basin Dam	Buncombe	100	Earth	Other	Low	1964
35	Mayo Lake Dam	Person	100	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High
36	Reynolds Lake Dam	Surry	100	Concrete	Recreation	High	1936
37	Moss Lake Dam	Cleveland	99	Earth	Water Supply	High	1973
38	Cliffside Inactive Ash Basin #5 Main Dam	Rutherford	97	Earth	Other	High	1972
39	High Rock	Rowan	96	Gravity	Hydroelectric	High	1927
40	Little River Dam	Durham	95	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1984
41	Lake Auman Dam	Moore	93	Earth	Recreation	High	1979
42	Lake Michie Dam	Durham	92	Earth	Other	High	1926
43	Falls Lake Dam	Wake	92	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1981
44	Stewarts Creek Ws Dam #1a	Surry	91	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1972
45	Marshall Active Ash Basin Dam	Catawba	90	Earth	Other	High	1962
46	Foote Mineral Tailings Dam	Cleveland	90	Earth	Tailings	Low	1958
47	Ticoa Lake Dam	Transylvania	90	Earth	Recreation	High	1974
48	Lookout Shoals	Catawba	88	Gravity	Hydroelectric	High	1915
49	Yadkin Narrows Bypass Spillway Control Structure	Montgomery	88	Gravity	Hydroelectric	High	1917
50	Town Fork Creek Ws Dam #16	Stokes	88	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1968

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