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 / 35.24778; -84.00528[1]
• elevation	4,200 ft (1,300 m)[1]
Mouth	Little Tennessee River at Vonore, Tennessee
• coordinates	35°36′13″N 84°12′45″W / 35.60361°N 84.21250°W / 35.60361; -84.21250[1]
• elevation	814 ft (248 m)[1]
Length	52.8 mi (85.0 km)[1]
Basin size	285 sq mi (740 km2)[3]
Discharge
• location	Tellico Plains, Tennessee, 28.3 miles (45.5 km) above the mouth(mean for water years 1926-1981)[2]
• average	284 cu ft/s (8.0 m3/s)(mean for water years 1926-1981)[2]
• minimum	13 cu ft/s (0.37 m3/s) September 1925[2]
• maximum	21,500 cu ft/s (610 m3/s) May 1840[2]
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.