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Natural Heritage Trail

Little Tennessee River

NC Division of Tourism, Film & Sports Development Photo by Ron Ruehl

The Little Tennessee River, which can be accessed on foot from the Little Tennessee River Greenway in Franklin, North Carolina, is one of a handful of major rivers in the Blue Ridge Mountains to have escaped dam construction and development. Consequently, it has retained most of its native fish and is home to some rare and endangered species.

One of the country's best smallmouth fishing rivers, the Little Tennessee is also rich in other game fish, including the walleye, which swims in deep water at heads of pools, and the channel catfish and flathead catfish, which can be seen in deep water by day, roaming by night.

The Little Tennessee River Greenway is the result of a local volunteer initiative to preserve scenic, natural, historic, cultural, and recreational resources in the area. It is within sight of the Nikwasi Mound, once the center of a thriving Cherokee village, now in downtown Franklin.

In the eighteenth century, the Cherokee village Ayoree was the site of a brief European entrepreneurial venture. The area, near the Little Tennessee River, is a source of kaolin, a pure white clay, which gained the attention of Josiah Wedgwood, maker of the famous Queensware porcelain. In 1768, he sent Thomas Griffiths to the village to acquire the clay for his pottery. Although the clay was used for a time, Wedgwood eventually found a source of kaolin closer to home.

Northeast Macon County
Franklin Chamber of Commerce
425 Porter Street
Franklin, North Carolina 28734
828-524-3161 866-372-5546
http://franklin-chamber.com

Friends of the (Little Tennessee) Greenway
23 Macon Avenue
Franklin, NC 28734
(828)369-7331
www.littletennessee.org

Highlands Chamber of Commerce
P.O. Box 62
Highlands, NC 28741
828-526-5841
www.highlandschamber.org

Highlands Visitors Center
828-526-2112