JORDAN LAKE STATE RECREATION AREA
Jordan Lake State Recreation Area is a collective of nine access areas scattered around the shoreline of this undeveloped, 14,000-acre reservoir. More than 1,000 campsites among five of the access areas offer a range of outdoor experience from RV hookups to primitive tent camping and group camps. There are seven swim beaches in the recreation area and a number of boating ramps, with some swim areas and ramps reserved for campers.
Jordan Lake State Recreation Area is one of the largest summertime homes of the bald eagle, the symbol of the United States for more than 200 years. The population of eagles in the Jordan Lake area has increased dramatically since the flooding of the reservoir in 1983.
Following a disastrous hurricane, which struck the Cape Fear River Basin in 1945, Congress directed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to undertake a comprehensive study of water resource needs in the area. The project, then known as New Hope Lake, was authorized in 1963 and construction began in 1967. In 1973, the name of the project was changed to B. Everett Jordan Dam and Lake in honor of the former senator from North Carolina.
Jordan Lake's 46,768 acres are not only a popular source of recreation. They also provide the water supply for surrounding cities, flood and water quality control, and fish and wildlife conservation.