Towns County Rivers in the North Georgia Mountains
fishing, rafting, kayaking, canoeing and tubing

Hiwassee River

The Hiwassee River finds it beginnings in North Georgia’s Chattahoochee National Forest along the northern mountain slopes of the Western Continental Divide.  From its start in the southern mountainous region of Towns County, Georgia the river works its way thru pasturelands enclosed by high ridges following a path to what was once the north central farming valley of Towns County.  This upper part of the Hiwassee River is popular with fly fishing, its location with its gentle water current and narrow banks is fairly easy to access due to the fact the river runs thru the heart of the pasturelands and is not obscured by heavy forest or steep slopes.

Once the Hiwassee River skirts the edge of the mountain town of Hiawassee the river waters then gather into one of the most picturesque mountain lakes in North Georgia, Lake Chatuge.  The location of Lake Chatuge was once a large valley completely surrounded by tall mountains and is by far one of the more beautiful mountain lakes with a southern perimeter in Georgia and northern perimeter in North Carolina.  Lake Chatuge is part of the western Blue Ridge Mountain watershed controlled by the TVA, Tennessee Valley Authority who dammed rivers and flooded valleys for the purpose of flood control and hydroelectric power production.  Lake Chatuge for the most part is a broad body of water with fewer channels than other mountain lakes.  Known for bass fishing and water recreation the lake is considered as much of a recreational lake as well as a utility lake.

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Hightower Creek

Downstream from Towns County Road 88; Hiawassee River downstream from Towns County Road 87; and tributaries to Chatuge Reservoir not listed as Year-round are not trout streams and may be fished year-round and without a trout license.

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