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29-774: In Georgia, the wilderness is divided into two sections by a corridor on either side of the Tallulah River . The western part of the Wilderness in Georgia includes the portion of the Appalachian Trail that begins at Blue Ridge Gap and climbs over Rocky Knob in Towns County before passing over the eastern flank of Rich Knob in Rabun County and entering North Carolina at Bly Gap. The eastern part of

58-537: A memorial to Woody, who negotiated its purchase for the Forest Service. Woody also helped build a school, in Suches GA, where he was born, which was later named after him, Woody Gap School, the smallest public school in Georgia. current enrollment is around 60 students total, K-12. On July 9, 1936, the Forest Service was reorganized to follow state boundaries and President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed

87-572: A section of the river that is about 14.3 miles (23 km) long, draining a 56.5 square mile (146 km ) area. Annually, the area receives at least 72 inches of rainfall and is entirely within the boundaries of the Chattahoochee National Forest . About one-third of the land falls within the Southern Nantahala Wilderness and about one-fifth is privately owned. The primary tributaries of

116-644: Is a 47.7-mile-long (76.8 km) river in Georgia and North Carolina . It begins in Clay County, North Carolina , near Standing Indian Mountain in the Southern Nantahala Wilderness and flows south into Georgia, crossing the state line into Towns County . The river travels through Rabun County and ends in Habersham County . It cuts through the Tallulah Dome rock formation to form

145-680: Is also one of the select wilderness areas to someday reintroduce the critically endangered red wolf . The Chattahoochee National Forest takes its name from the Chattahoochee River whose headwaters begin in the North Georgia mountains . The River and the area were given the name by the English settlers who took the name from the Indians living here. The Cherokee and Creek Indians inhabited North Georgia. In one dialect of

174-578: Is spread over eight Georgia counties and is organized into one ranger district. The Oconee Ranger District maintains several hiking and other recreational trails in the forest. Forest headquarters are located in Gainesville, Georgia . Listed below are the counties with land in the Forest showing the area and the relevant ranger districts. The Oconee National Forest is almost halfway between Macon and Athens . There are two major man-made lakes within

203-737: The Muskogean languages , Chatta means stone; ho chee , marked or flowered. These marked or flowered stones were in the Chattahoochee River at a settlement near Columbus, Georgia . In 1911, the United States Forest Service purchased 31,000 acres (125 km ) of land in Fannin , Gilmer , Lumpkin and Union Counties from the Gennett family for $ 7 per acre. This land was the beginning of what would become

232-822: The Tallulah Gorge and its several waterfalls (collectively known as Tallulah Falls ). The Tallulah River intersects with the Chattooga River to form the Tugaloo River at Lake Tugalo in Habersham County. It joins South Carolina 's Seneca River at Lake Hartwell (also created by a dam upriver) to form the Savannah River , which flows southeastward into the Atlantic Ocean . From its headwaters to its confluence with

261-680: The Chattahoochee National Forest comprises 751,069 acres (3,039 km ) and the Oconee National Forest comprises 116,196 acres (470 km ). The county with the largest portion of the eastern forest is Rabun County , Georgia , which has 148,684 acres (601.7 km ) within its boundaries. Numerous animals can be found in this forest including birds such as species of hawk , species of owl , blackbirds , ducks , eagles , sparrows , hummingbirds , geese, and cardinals. Mammalian species that roam in

290-706: The Chattahoochee National Forest. The initial land purchases became a part of the Cherokee National Forest on June 14, 1920. Ranger Roscoe Nicholson , who was the first forest ranger in Georgia and had advised the Forest Service in its initial land purchases, continued the growth of the Chattahoochee by negotiating the purchase of most of the Forest Service land in what is now the Chattooga River Ranger District. The Coleman River Scenic Area near Clayton, Georgia

319-620: The Chattahoochee a separate National Forest. In 1936, the Chattahoochee was organized into two Ranger Districts, the Blue Ridge and the Tallulah. In 1959, President Dwight D. Eisenhower proclaimed 96,000 acres (388 km ) of federal lands in central Georgia as the Oconee National Forest. The Oconee then joined the Chattahoochee to become the Chattahoochee–Oconee National Forests of today. The Chattooga River

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348-809: The Chattooga River and the headwaters of the Chattahoochee River, natural attractions within it boundaries include the beginning of the 2,174-mile (3,499 km) Appalachian Trail , Georgia's highpoint, Brasstown Bald and Anna Ruby Falls . The Chattahoochee also includes ten wildernesses that are part of the National Wilderness Preservation System , all of which are managed by the United States Forest Service. Parts of these wilderness extend outside Chattahoochee National Forest, as indicated. The wildernesses are: The Oconee National Forest today

377-600: The Cherokee appear to have settled some of their homeland by the mid to late-16th century; for instance, they had built a townhouse by the late sixteenth century at the Coweeta Creek site on the upper Little Tennessee River in present-day North Carolina. The Overhill Cherokee also used the term, and were known to have a town called Tallulah, located on the portion of the Little Tennessee that flowed on

406-569: The Oconee National Forest in eastern Georgia and the Chattahoochee National Forest located in the North Georgia Mountains. The Chattahoochee National Forest is composed of an eastern and western forest. The western forest contains Johns Mountain , Little Sand Mountain, and Taylor Ridge (Georgia) . The combined total area of the Chattahoochee–Oconee National Forest is 867,265 acres (3,510 km ), of which

435-507: The Southern Nantahala Wilderness and provides the only access to Tate City, North Carolina . Heavily wooded today, the upper Tallulah River Basin was stripped nearly bare by clear-cut logging in the 1930s before the Chattahoochee National Forest was established. Although Georgians have long assumed that Tallulah was a Cherokee language word, given the prominence of Cherokee history in the state, scholars dispute

464-608: The Tallulah River in Rabun County are Coleman River and Persimmon Creek. The upper Tallulah River Basin is as scenic as it is rugged. The highest elevations are found in North Carolina on Standing Indian Mountain , elevation 5,499 feet, where the Tallulah River headwaters are located. After coming into Georgia and passing through the old mining and logging town of Tate City, Georgia in eastern Towns County,

493-689: The Tugaloo River, the Tallulah River is approximately 48 miles (77 km) long. The Tallulah River Basin drains approximately 184 square miles (480 km ), as measured at the Tallulah Falls Hydroelectric Plant in Habersham County, Georgia , near the lower end of the Tallulah Gorge. The lower part of the river includes a string of man-made lakes along the river created by hydroelectric dams operated by Georgia Power . The first (and northernmost) lake in

522-542: The Wilderness in Georgia includes an area on Coleman River . In connection with its management of the Wilderness, the Forest Service actively promotes adherence to the Leave No Trace principles. The wilderness was closed during the 2016 Rock Mountain fire . 34°59′47″N 83°33′50″W  /  34.99639°N 83.56389°W  / 34.99639; -83.56389 Tallulah River The Tallulah River ( / t ə ˈ l uː l ə / tə- LOO -lə )

551-712: The boundaries of the Oconee Ranger District, both on the Oconee River. Lake Sinclair lends its water and name to Lake Sinclair Recreation Area in Putnam County. This is the major recreation area of the Oconee Ranger District and offers camping, boating, fishing and swimming. Redlands Recreation area is located on Lake Oconee in Greene County and offers boating, picnicking and fishing. Oconee River Recreation Area, farther upstream and near

580-473: The course of the Tallulah River to its end. The upper Tallulah River Basin drains to the portion of the Tallulah River that is upstream from Lake Burton. This includes northwestern Rabun County, northeastern Towns County and part of Clay County, North Carolina. The United States Geological Survey collects data for the upper Tallulah River Basin from its gauging station at the point where the river crosses Plum Orchard Road. The upper Tallulah River Basin includes

609-499: The derivation of the river's name. This area was long part of the extensive Cherokee homelands in the Southeast. Tourism promoters in the late 19th century said that tallulah meant "thundering waters" in Cherokee. Some scholars later theorized that tallulah meant “terrible” in Cherokee, or was possibly derived from a number of other words. It is more likely that there is no translation for the word. Based on archeological studies,

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638-457: The forest are American black bear , shrew , coyote , a variety of bats , squirrel , beaver , river otter , bobcat , deer , weasel , mice, and foxes . The forest is known to be home to the mysterious blue glow of the Blue ghost firefly, Phausis reticulata , and many species of fish and amphibians swim in the many streams and lakes; also various species of reptile inhabit the forest. The area

667-493: The narrow, dirt, mountain roads and eventually released in the streams . Woody also purchased fawns with his own money, and fed them until they could be released on what became the Blue Ridge Wildlife Management Area . Many landmarks in the Chattahoochee bear Ranger Woody's name in tribute to his work. Sosebee Cove , a 175 acres (0.7 km ) tract of prize hardwood along GA 180 is set aside as

696-501: The northern boundary of the National Forest, offers camping and boating. There are many miles of hiking and equestrian trails within the forest and one trail for dirt bikes and four-wheelers. Hunt camps dispersed throughout the district are temporarily home to hundreds of hunters who enjoy the forest during deer hunting season. An active timber program insures the health of the forest. The highest point in Oconee National Forest

725-644: The river enters into what is known as Tallulah’s upper gorge , or the Rock Mountain Gorge. This upper "gorge" is far less dramatic that the more famous Tallulah Gorge. It starts just upstream from the river’s confluence with Coleman River and runs nearly 3 miles (5 km) past Rock Mountain on the western side of the river. The scenic "gorge" is accessible via a drive along the Tallulah River Road (Forest Service Road 70). The Tallulah River Road follows an old railroad bed before ending in

754-461: The series is Lake Burton , which is followed by Lake Seed , Lake Rabun , and Lake Tallulah Falls . From Tallulah Falls Lake, the lower part of the river flows through the Tallulah Gorge and now ends as an arm of Lake Tugalo , the other arm of the lake being formed by the Chattooga River . Starting at a point about 0.5 miles (0.80 km) downstream from the dam for Tallulah Falls Lake , the boundary line between Habersham and Rabun counties follows

783-483: The west side of the Appalachian Mountains. Muscogee Creek also occupied part of this area before being pushed out by the Cherokee. 34°42′58″N 83°21′09″W  /  34.7162056°N 83.3523856°W  / 34.7162056; -83.3523856 Chattahoochee National Forest The Chattahoochee–Oconee National Forest in northern Georgia comprises two United States National Forests ,

812-451: Was dedicated to "Ranger Nick", as he was called, in honor of his promotion of conservation ideals. Ranger Arthur Woody also promoted conservation and was a key figure in the early development of the Chattahoochee. Unwise land and resource use had caused the deer and trout populations to virtually disappear in the North Georgia mountains and Woody brought trout and deer back to the area. The trout were shipped to Gainesville, hauled across

841-719: Was designated a Wild and Scenic River during the 1970s. The Chattooga remains one of the few free-flowing streams in the Southeast and is known for its white water rafting and scenery. The movie Deliverance was filmed on the Chattooga River, which became the fictional Cahulawassee River in the movie. The Chattahoochee National Forest today covers 18 north Georgia counties. The Chattahoochee currently has three ranger districts: It includes over 2,200 miles (3,500 km) of rivers and streams (including about 1,367 miles (2,200 km) of trout streams). There are over 450 miles (720 km) of hiking and other recreation trails, and 1,600 miles (2,600 km) of "roads." In addition to

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