About this river
Cape Fear River is a 42.7 mile river near Marina Street in North Carolina. Streamflow is measured at the USGS gauge Cape Fear R at Lock 1 near Kelly, NC (site 02105769). The National Hydrography Dataset places it at stream order 8. Reach geometry comes from the USGS National Hydrography Dataset.
Typical flow by month
1982 to 2026
Cape Fear River typically runs highest in March, at a median 6,960 cfs, and lowest in October, at 1,390 cfs. The highest flow on record for any single day is 76,300 cfs, in 2018.
| Month | Typical (cfs) | Usual range (cfs) | Relative level |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5,740 | 2,750 to 12,000 | |
| February | 5,680 | 3,170 to 12,600 | |
| March | 6,960 | 3,550 to 12,700 | |
| April | 4,650 | 2,455 to 9,980 | |
| May | 2,130 | 1,490 to 4,360 | |
| June | 1,830 | 1,180 to 4,290 | |
| July | 1,630 | 1,110 to 3,150 | |
| August | 1,710 | 1,110 to 3,630 | |
| September | 1,515 | 1,050 to 3,070 | |
| October | 1,390 | 981 to 2,700 | |
| November | 1,815 | 1,130 to 3,560 | |
| December | 3,010 | 1,700 to 6,990 |
Typical is the median of each month’s daily median values, and the usual range runs from the median 25th to the median 75th percentile, across about 45 years of record. Statistics published by the US Geological Survey for Cape Fear R at Lock 1 near Kelly, NC (site 02105769). Conditions on any given day can fall well outside the usual range. Check the current reading before you go.
Boat access nearby
6 mapped launches sit in the mapped area of Cape Fear River, all of them public access. Ramp data comes from the USGS national boat-ramp inventory.
Embed this gauge on your site
Paste this snippet anywhere, an outfitter page, a club site, a trip report, to show Cape Fear River's live streamflow, water level and 7-day trend. It reads the USGS gauge directly, updates itself, and links back here.
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