Coosawattee River, Major river system in northwestern Georgia, United States.
The Coosawattee River is a river in northwestern Georgia that begins where the Ellijay and Cartecay rivers meet and flows toward the Oostanaula River. It runs through wooded, hilly land and passes through several counties before reaching flatter terrain downstream.
The Coosawattee valley was home to Cherokee communities for generations, serving as a central corridor for settlement and trade. In 1838, those communities were forcibly removed during the event known as the Trail of Tears, which reshaped the entire region.
The name Coosawattee comes from the Cherokee language, and its meaning is tied to the communities that once lived along these banks. Visitors walking the riverside can still notice traces of that presence in place names and local storytelling.
The river can be accessed from several points along its course, and it works well for both hiking and paddling. Water temperatures stay cool throughout the year, so layering is a good idea regardless of the season.
Carters Dam, built across this river, is the tallest earthen dam east of the Mississippi River, and it turned a stretch of the valley into a reservoir. Parts of the original riverbed now sit underwater, making the current landscape quite different from what it looked like before the dam was built.
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