Tellico River
| Tellico River | |
| River | |
 The Tellico River near Tellico Plains, Tennessee
|
|
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| States | North Carolina, Tennessee |
| Tributaries | |
| - left | Bald River |
| - right | North River |
| Source | near McDaniel Bald in Cherokee County, North Carolina |
| - elevation | 4,200 ft (1,280 m) |
| - coordinates | 35°14′52″N 84°0′19″W / 35.24778°N 84.00528°W |
| Mouth | Little Tennessee River at Vonore, Tennessee |
| - elevation | 814 ft (248 m) |
| - coordinates | 35°36′13″N 84°12′45″W / 35.60361°N 84.21250°WCoordinates: 35°36′13″N 84°12′45″W / 35.60361°N 84.21250°W |
| Length | 52.8 mi (85 km) |
| Basin | 285 sq mi (738 km2) |
| Discharge | for Tellico Plains, Tennessee, 28.3 miles (45.5 km) above the mouth |
| - average | 284 cu ft/s (8 m3/s) (mean for water years 1926-1981) |
| - max | 21,500 cu ft/s (609 m3/s) May 1840 |
| - min | 13 cu ft/s (0.4 m3/s) September 1925 |
The Tellico River rises in the westernmost mountains of the U.S. state of North Carolina, but it flows mainly through Monroe County, Tennessee. With a length of 52.8 miles (85.0 km), it is a major tributary of the Little Tennessee River, and is one of the primary streams draining the Unicoi Mountains.
The Tellico River and its main tributaries are renowned for their brook, brown, and rainbow trout fishing. Upstream from Tellico Lake, above Tellico Plains, Tennessee, the Tellico is a premier trout stream. It meanders through a mountain gorge before reaching the broad plains downstream of Tellico Plains.
The Tellico River rises in the Unicoi Mountains (a subrange of the Blue Ridge Mountains) near the Cherokee County/Graham County line, in North Carolina's Nantahala National Forest. The North Carolina side includes the Upper Tellico Off-highway vehicle area.
After the river crosses into Tennessee and enters the Cherokee National Forest, it is joined by its major tributaries, the Bald and North rivers. After exiting the mountains, the river enters Tellico Plains, a relatively flat and isolated area carved out by the river and several tributaries, namely Morgan Creek and Smoky Run. A 4-mile (6.4 km) stretch of the river above Tellico Plains runs parallel to the Cherohala Skyway.
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Wikipedia