Tellico River
| Tellico River | |
|---|---|
The Tellico River near Tellico Plains, Tennessee | |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | North Carolina, Tennessee |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | near McDaniel Bald in Cherokee County, North Carolina |
| • coordinates | 35°14′52″N 84°0′19″W / 35.24778°N 84.00528°W |
| • elevation | 4,200 ft (1,300 m) |
| Mouth | Little Tennessee River at Vonore, Tennessee |
• coordinates | 35°36′13″N 84°12′45″W / 35.60361°N 84.21250°W |
• elevation | 814 ft (248 m) |
| Length | 52.8 mi (85.0 km) |
| Basin size | 285 sq mi (740 km2) |
| Discharge | |
| • location | Tellico Plains, Tennessee, 28.3 miles (45.5 km) above the mouth(mean for water years 1926-1981) |
| • average | 284 cu ft/s (8.0 m3/s)(mean for water years 1926-1981) |
| • minimum | 13 cu ft/s (0.37 m3/s) September 1925 |
| • maximum | 21,500 cu ft/s (610 m3/s) May 1840 |
| Basin features | |
| Tributaries | |
| • left | Bald River |
| • right | North River |
The Tellico River is a river in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee. It rises in the westernmost mountains of North Carolina, and then flows through Monroe County, Tennessee, before joining the Little Tennessee River under the Tellico Reservoir. 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.