The basin is named for the Little Tennes see
River, which flows north into North Carolina
from Georgia. Its major tributaries include
the Cullasaja, Nantahala, Tuckasegee and
Cheoah rivers. Major lakes in the basin are
Fontana, Santeetlah, Nantahala and Glenville. The
concrete dam that impounds Fontana Lake is the highest in the eastern United States at 480
feet. The Little Tennessee River flows into the Tennessee River once it crosses the North
Carolina- Tennessee border, and it eventually flows to the Gulf of Mexico.
Water quality in the basin is generally excellent. Over half the land in the basin is publicly
owned, and 89 percent of the land is forested. Most of the basin’s population lives in and
around Franklin, Sylva and Cherokee, a reservation that is home to the entire Eastern Band
of Cherokee Indians, which numbers 12,500. Macon County, which includes the towns of
Franklin and Highlands, is the basin’s fastest- growing county.
The upper Little Tennessee River meanders through pastures and
farmland before reaching Emory Dam below Franklin. In the 25
miles downstream of Lake Emory, the river bends from north to west,
becoming rocky, swift and wild as it rushes between the Cowee and
Nantahala mountains through the Little Tennessee River Gorge. The
gorge contains a rich, expansive and undis turbed mountain forest with
such rare plant species as mountain camellia and wild petunia.
T he Little Tennessee River Basin contains famed trout streams, the world- renowned
Great Smoky Mountains National Park, a staggering diversity of aquatic wildlife
and sparkling, clear rivers that squeeze through forested picture- perfect gorges.
Total miles of
streams and rivers:
2,565
Municipalities
within basin: 9
Counties
within basin: 6
Size: 1,797
square miles
Population:
79,493
( 2000 U. S. Census)
profile:
LITTLE TENNESSEE RIVER
BASIN
The river otter was reintro-duced
into the basin in
1992 ( above); Little
Tennessee River ( left)
BILL LEA
BILL LEA
Va
Tenn