French Broad River

The French Broad River is a river in the U.S. states of North Carolina and Tennessee. It flows from near the town of Rosman in Transylvania County, North Carolina, into Tennessee, where its confluence with the Holston River at Knoxville forms the beginning of the Tennessee River. The river flows through the counties of Transylvania, Henderson, Buncombe, and Madison in North Carolina, and Cocke, Jefferson, Sevier, and Knox in Tennessee. It drains large portions of the Pisgah National Forest and the Cherokee National Forest. It is often believed to be one of the oldest rivers in the world.

Course The headwaters of the French Broad River are near the town of Rosman in Transylvania County, North Carolina, just northwest of the Eastern Continental Divide near the northwest border of South Carolina. They spill from a waterfall called Courthouse Falls at the terminus of Courthouse Creek near Balsam Grove. The waterfall feeds into a creek that becomes the North Fork, which joins the West Fork west of Rosman. South of Rosman, the stream is joined by the Middle and East forks to form the French Broad River.

From there it flows northeast through the Appalachian Mountains into Henderson, and Buncombe counties. In Buncombe County, the river flows through Asheville where it receives the water of the Swannanoa River. Downstream of Asheville, the river passes north through Marshall and Madison County. After passing through Hot Springs in the Bald Mountains, the river enters Cocke County, Tennessee.

In Cocke County, the river passes through Del Rio and receives the waters of both the Pigeon and the Nolichucky rivers northwest of Newport. The river enters the slack waters of Douglas Lake, which was created by the Tennessee Valley Authority's Douglas Dam in Sevier County, approximately upstream from the river's mouth. Near Sevierville, at Kodak, the French Broad River receives the flow of the Little Pigeon River, which drains much of the Tennessee section of the Great Smoky Mountains. After flowing through a wide gap in Bays Mountain, it enters Knox County. Its confluence with the Holston River forms the Tennessee River at a place known as "Forks of the River", at the eastern edge of Knoxville.

Major tributaries North Fork West Fork East Fork Middle Fork Pigeon River Nolichucky River Mills River Davidson River Swannanoa River Little River (French Broad River)

History

Name Origin Before European colonization, the Cherokee people who occupied the area referred to the river by different names such as Poe-li-co, Agiqua, Zillicoah, and Tah-kee-os-tee ("racing waters"). The French colonists then named the river the French Broad River because it drained into French territory, and they needed to differentiate it from the Broad River, which also lies in North Carolina.

Cherokee History The river is considered to roughly mark the eastern boundary of the Cherokee homelands in this region, which included areas of present-day northwestern South Carolina, northeastern Georgia, and southeastern Tennessee. The French called the river the Agiqua, borrowing one of the Cherokee names.

Government Regulation Initiated as a project during the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Douglas Dam was completed in the 1940s on the lower French Broad by the TVA to provide electricity and flood control. It is one of the larger TVA developments on a tributary of the Tennessee River. (The two other very large ones are Norris Lake on the Clinch River and Cherokee Lake on the Holston River.)

In 1987, the North Carolina General Assembly established the French Broad River State Trail as a blueway which follows the river for . The paddle trail is a part of the North Carolina State Trails System, which is a section of the NC Division of Parks and Recreation. A system of launch point sites was created along the river to support the trail.

A portion of the French Broad River in Tennessee was designated as a state scenic river by the Tennessee Scenic Rivers Act of 1968. Approximately of the river in Cocke County, starting at the North Carolina border and extending downstream to the place where it flows into Douglas Lake, are designated as a Class III, Partially Developed River.

Crossings The following is a list of crossings of the French Broad from Brevard to the confluence with the Tennessee River.

North Carolina Transylvania and Henderson counties Patton Bridge Crab Creek Road Blantyre Road Etowah School Road in Etowah McLean Bridge (U.S. 64) in Etowah Johnson Bridge Fannings Bridge Butler Bridge Kings Bridge (N.C. 191) Boylston Highway (N.C. 280) at the Asheville Regional Airport Buncombe County/Asheville Glenn Bridge Long Shoals Road (N.C. 146) in Skyland Blue Ridge Parkway Interstate 26 Interstate 40 at the Biltmore Estate Carrier Bridge in Asheville Haywood Road in Asheville Smith Bridge in Asheville Bowen Bridge (Interstate 26/I-240/U.S. 19/U.S. 74) in Asheville Pearson Bridge in Asheville Old Leicester Highway in Craggy Fletcher Martin Road Madison County Bailey's Branch Road in Marshall A small bridge connecting Bailey's Branch Road to Blannahasset Island Little Pine Road Barnard Road in Barnard (put-in for Section 9 of the French Broad, a Class III-IV whitewater run that is the most frequently paddled section of the river) (U.S. 25)/(U.S. 70) in Hot Springs (takeout for Section 9); the Appalachian Trail crosses this bridge.

Tennessee Cocke County Wolf Creek Bridge Bridge in Del Rio James T Huff Bridge (U.S. 25/U.S. 70) U.S. 321 in Newport Holt Town Road U.S. Route 25E from Cocke County into Jefferson County) Douglas Lake to Knoxville Interstate 40 and Donald J Trump Bridge (U.S. 70) over Douglas Lake James D. Hoskins Bridge in Dandridge Douglas Dam Road TN 66 at Sevierville Several golf cart path bridges over the Cain Islands Doctor JH Gammondale Bridge in Marbledale

Pollution

Hurricane Helene In 2024, Hurricane Helene was reported to have affected the French Broad River and surrounding areas more than any other hurricane before it. After Hurricane Helene, the French Broad River suffered from water pollution with high levels of contaminants recorded, including PFAS, pesticides, and other hazardous chemicals. The chemicals found highly threaten aquatic life and pose a small risk to human health. The amount of harmful substances within the water surpasses the maximum concentration levels set by the Environmental Protection Agency for consumption.

Aquatic life

Catfish, largemouth bass, and brown and rainbow trout are part of the diverse array of fish to be found in the French Broad River. Additionally, populations of the Snail darter, a vulnerable fish species, are recorded to have increased significantly in the river since the species was initially sampled in 1988.

See also List of North Carolina rivers List of Tennessee rivers Wilma Dykeman RiverWay Plan (for RiverLink's sustainable greenways and park developments on/near the French Broad River)

References

French Broad River

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