The
Tugaloo River (originally
Tugalo River) is a short
riverA river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing toward an ocean, a lake, a sea or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water...
bordering the
U.S. stateA U.S. state is any one of 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government . Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile...
s of
GeorgiaGeorgia is a state in the United States. One of the original Thirteen Colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution, it had been the last of the Thirteen Colonies to be established, in 1733. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January...
and
South CarolinaSouth Carolina is a U.S. state that borders Georgia to the south and North Carolina to the north. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence from the British Crown during the American Revolution. The colony was...
. It is fed by the
Tallulah RiverThe Tallulah River is a short 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 then travels through Rabun County and...
and the
Chattooga RiverThe Chattooga River is the main tributary of the Tugaloo River. Its headwaters are located southwest of Cashiers, North Carolina, and it stretches or 92 km to where it has its confluence with the Tallulah River within Lake Tugalo, held back by the Tugalo Dam...
, which each form an arm of
Lake TugaloLake Tugalo is a reservoir with of shoreline located in the northeastern Georgia in Habersham and Rabun counties, but also lies partially in Oconee County, South Carolina. It is the fifth lake in a six-lake series created by hydroelectric dams operated by Georgia Power that follows the original...
, on the edge of Georgia's
Tallulah Gorge State ParkTallulah Gorge State Park is a Georgia state park adjacent to Tallulah Falls, Georgia along the county line between Rabun and Habersham Counties. The park surrounds Tallulah Gorge, a deep gorge formed by the action of the Tallulah River, which runs along the floor of the gorge...
. The Tugaloo then flows out of the
lakeA lake is a terrain feature , a body of liquid on the surface of a world that is localized to the bottom of basin and moves slowly if it moves at all. Another definition is, a body of fresh or salt water of considerable size that is surrounded by land...
via Tugaloo Dam, passing into
Lake YonahLake Yonah is a picturesque river lake on the Tugaloo River, separating Georgia and South Carolina. The lake is created by the Yonah Dam which is owned by Georgia Power, like most of the other lakes on this beautiful chain. Lake Yonah is a residential lake with about seventy-two vacational and/or...
and through Yonah Dam.
The river then ends as an arm of
Lake HartwellLake Hartwell is a reservoir bordering Georgia and South Carolina on the Savannah, Tugaloo, and Seneca Rivers. The lake is created by Hartwell Dam located on the Savannah River seven miles below the point at which the Tugaloo and Seneca Rivers join to form the Savannah...
, as does South Carolina's
Seneca RiverThe Seneca River is created by the confluence of the Keowee River and the Little River in northern South Carolina, just downriver from Lake Keowee.The Seneca River flows from the confluence into Lake Hartwell, a reservoir created by Hartwell Dam...
. After flowing out of
Hartwell DamHartwell Dam is located on the Savannah River at the border of South Carolina and Georgia. The dam was built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers between 1955 and 1963 for the purposes of flood control, hydropower and navigation. The concrete and earthen structure spans...
, it is called the
Savannah RiverThe Savannah River is a major river in the southeastern United States, forming most of the border between the states of South Carolina and Georgia. Two tributaries of the Savannah, the Tugaloo River and the Chattooga River, form the northernmost part of the border...
.
Territorial claims to the river and its
islandAn island or isle is any piece of land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls are called islets. A key or cay is another name for a small island or islet. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot, .There are two main types of islands:...
s were settled with the
Treaty of BeaufortThe Treaty of Beaufort, also called the Beaufort Convention, is the treaty that originally set the all-river boundary between the U.S. states of Georgia and South Carolina...
in 1787, as interpreted in the two
Georgia v. South Carolina cases before the U.S.
The
Tugaloo River (originally
Tugalo River) is a short
riverA river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing toward an ocean, a lake, a sea or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water...
bordering the
U.S. stateA U.S. state is any one of 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government . Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile...
s of
GeorgiaGeorgia is a state in the United States. One of the original Thirteen Colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution, it had been the last of the Thirteen Colonies to be established, in 1733. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January...
and
South CarolinaSouth Carolina is a U.S. state that borders Georgia to the south and North Carolina to the north. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence from the British Crown during the American Revolution. The colony was...
. It is fed by the
Tallulah RiverThe Tallulah River is a short 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 then travels through Rabun County and...
and the
Chattooga RiverThe Chattooga River is the main tributary of the Tugaloo River. Its headwaters are located southwest of Cashiers, North Carolina, and it stretches or 92 km to where it has its confluence with the Tallulah River within Lake Tugalo, held back by the Tugalo Dam...
, which each form an arm of
Lake TugaloLake Tugalo is a reservoir with of shoreline located in the northeastern Georgia in Habersham and Rabun counties, but also lies partially in Oconee County, South Carolina. It is the fifth lake in a six-lake series created by hydroelectric dams operated by Georgia Power that follows the original...
, on the edge of Georgia's
Tallulah Gorge State ParkTallulah Gorge State Park is a Georgia state park adjacent to Tallulah Falls, Georgia along the county line between Rabun and Habersham Counties. The park surrounds Tallulah Gorge, a deep gorge formed by the action of the Tallulah River, which runs along the floor of the gorge...
. The Tugaloo then flows out of the
lakeA lake is a terrain feature , a body of liquid on the surface of a world that is localized to the bottom of basin and moves slowly if it moves at all. Another definition is, a body of fresh or salt water of considerable size that is surrounded by land...
via Tugaloo Dam, passing into
Lake YonahLake Yonah is a picturesque river lake on the Tugaloo River, separating Georgia and South Carolina. The lake is created by the Yonah Dam which is owned by Georgia Power, like most of the other lakes on this beautiful chain. Lake Yonah is a residential lake with about seventy-two vacational and/or...
and through Yonah Dam.
The river then ends as an arm of
Lake HartwellLake Hartwell is a reservoir bordering Georgia and South Carolina on the Savannah, Tugaloo, and Seneca Rivers. The lake is created by Hartwell Dam located on the Savannah River seven miles below the point at which the Tugaloo and Seneca Rivers join to form the Savannah...
, as does South Carolina's
Seneca RiverThe Seneca River is created by the confluence of the Keowee River and the Little River in northern South Carolina, just downriver from Lake Keowee.The Seneca River flows from the confluence into Lake Hartwell, a reservoir created by Hartwell Dam...
. After flowing out of
Hartwell DamHartwell Dam is located on the Savannah River at the border of South Carolina and Georgia. The dam was built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers between 1955 and 1963 for the purposes of flood control, hydropower and navigation. The concrete and earthen structure spans...
, it is called the
Savannah RiverThe Savannah River is a major river in the southeastern United States, forming most of the border between the states of South Carolina and Georgia. Two tributaries of the Savannah, the Tugaloo River and the Chattooga River, form the northernmost part of the border...
.
Territorial claims to the river and its
islandAn island or isle is any piece of land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls are called islets. A key or cay is another name for a small island or islet. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot, .There are two main types of islands:...
s were settled with the
Treaty of BeaufortThe Treaty of Beaufort, also called the Beaufort Convention, is the treaty that originally set the all-river boundary between the U.S. states of Georgia and South Carolina...
in 1787, as interpreted in the two
Georgia v. South Carolina cases before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1922 and 1989.
The river is also home to some of the most challenging
whitewaterWhitewater is formed in a rapid, when a river's gradient increases enough to disturb its laminar flow and create turbulence, i.e. form a bubbly, or aerated and unstable current; the frothy water appears white...
in the Southeast, luring sport kayakers and canoeists from all over the country.
The name of the river comes from
TugalooTugaloo was a Cherokee town on the Tugaloo River, at the mouth of Toccoa Creek, near present-day Toccoa, Georgia and very near the historic tavern called Travelers Rest....
, a
CherokeeThe Cherokee are a Native American people from the Southeastern United States...
town that was located on the river near the mouth of Toccoa Creek.
External links