Qualla: Chattooga River

Chattooga River: Introduction

Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Kbdevarona, CC BY-SA 4.0. The river that Burt Reynolds paddled down in 1972 does not care about its Hollywood credentials. The Chattooga moves through some of the oldest rock on Earth, carving its way between Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina through granite born in the ancient Blue Ridge Mountains. Before it was the fictional Cahulawassee River in James Dickey's novel Deliverance, before it became the first river east of the Mississippi to earn Wild and Scenic protection, the Chattooga flowed through Cherokee homeland. A town called Chattooga stood along its upper banks until an 1816 treaty forced the people to cede the territory. The river kept flowing -- as it has for millions of years, possibly changing direction only once in its entire geological life.

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Image: Kbdevarona | CC BY-SA 4.0

Chattooga River: A River That Switched Oceans

Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Darkspots, Public domain. The Chattooga begins southwest of Cashiers, North Carolina, in southern Jackson County, and flows southwestward to its confluence with the Tallulah River at Lake Tugalo. From there its waters join the Tugaloo, then the Savannah, and finally reach the Atlantic Ocean near Savannah,...

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Image: Darkspots | Public domain

Chattooga River: Cherokee Waters

Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Brian Stansberry, CC BY 4.0. The Chattooga forms part of the boundary between Georgia and South Carolina, but it was not always a border. Prior to 1816, the river ran through the heart of Cherokee territory. A Cherokee town named Chattooga stood along the upper river, and the name itself -- spelled variously...

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Image: Brian Stansberry | CC BY 4.0

Chattooga River: Deliverance and Designation

Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Slimguy, CC BY-SA 4.0. James Dickey's 1970 novel Deliverance made the Chattooga famous before most Americans had ever heard of Wild and Scenic Rivers. The 1972 film adaptation, starring Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, and Ronny Cox, shot its iconic whitewater scenes along the Chattooga, and the ...

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Image: Slimguy | CC BY-SA 4.0

Chattooga River: Five Falls and the Limits of Adventure

Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast Region, CC BY 2.0. The Chattooga is divided into numbered sections, each with its own character. Section 2 starting at Highway 28 is a gentle Class II float. Section 3 delivers Class II to IV rapids, culminating in the thundering Bull Sluice. Section 4 is where the river shows its teeth: Class II t...

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Image: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast Region | CC BY 2.0