The Chattooga River begins as a springs and rivulets near Cashiers in the North Carolina mountains. It flows a narrow, twisting, mostly southwesterly route before joining the Tallulah River in Lake Tugaloo. For most of its forty miles, the Chattooga forms the boundary between Georgia and South Carolina. It drops almost a half-mile as the land transitions from the Appalachians to the upper Piedmont. The Chattooga watershed includes approximately 278 square miles. The 1911 Weeks Law which authorized the Forest Service to acquire land to form the Nantahala, Sumter, and Chattahoochee National Forests, helped protect the Chattooga’s path through these three forests. The Chattooga River is considered one of the best white-water rivers in the southern Appalachians, with challenging Class III to Class V rapids along the lower section.
“C” is for Chattooga River
