National Whitewater Center, North Carolina

The primary feature of this sports training complex near Charlotte is one of the largest artificial whitewater rivers in the world, used to train kayakers. The facility covers a few hundred acres, next to the Catawba River, and has more than 3,700 feet of rapids, around a large upper level and lower level pool, and an extensive water circulating and pumping system moving the 12 million gallons of water it contains. It opened to the public in 2006, and is used to train Olympic athletes as well. There is a standing M-Wave, modeled after a site in Colorado, and other named features, such as the Cheese Grater, Rooster Tail, Clover Leaf Eddies, Pinball Alley, Snake Lips, Room of Doom, and so on. The facility was closed for several months in 2016, after the death of a visitor was linked to a brain-eating amoeba that was found in the water. An upgraded water purification system has been installed.