| Cullasaja River Tributary to Little Tennessee River | |
|---|---|
 Dry Falls on the upper Cullasaja | |
  Location of Cullasaja River mouth | |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | North Carolina |
| County | Macon |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | divide between Cullasaja River and Tuckasegee River |
| • location | about 1 mile south of Cowee Gap[2] |
| • coordinates | 35°05′23″N083°09′06″W / 35.08972°N 83.15167°W /35.08972; -83.15167[3] |
| • elevation | 4,150 ft (1,260 m) |
| Mouth | Little Tennessee River |
• location | Franklin, North Carolina[4] |
• coordinates | 35°10′30″N083°22′11″W / 35.17500°N 83.36972°W /35.17500; -83.36972[1] |
• elevation | 2,060 ft (630 m) |
| Length | 23.25 mi (37.42 km)[5] |
| Basin size | 92.58 square miles (239.8 km2) |
| Discharge | |
| • location | Little Tennessee River |
| • average | 274.29 cu ft/s (7.767 m3/s) at mouth with Little Tennessee River[6] |
| Basin features | |
| Progression | northwest |
| River system | Little Tennessee River |
| Tributaries | |
| • left | Saltbrook Branch Monger Creek Turtle Pond Creek Laurel Branch Stephens Creek Gold Mine Branch Crow Creek Peeks Creek Stonefield Branch Nickajack Creek Bryson Branch Mashburn Branch Scott Branch |
| • right | Ammons Branch Big Creek Skitty Creek Long Branch Short Creek Brush Creek Walnut Creek Crows Branch Lickskillet Branch Ellijay Creek Arnold Creek |
| Waterbodies | Ravenel Lake Mirror Lake Lake Sequoyah |
TheCullasaja River (/ˌkuːləˈseɪdʒə/)[7] is a shortriver located entirely inMacon County,North Carolina. It is atributary of theLittle Tennessee River into which it flows near thecounty seat ofFranklin. (The Little Tennessee feeds theTennessee,Ohio andMississippi rivers.)
The Cullasaja originates in the southeast, nearHighlands, the county's only other town. It flows frommanmade Lake Sequoyah, which is fed by Mirror Lake and other creeks and streams originating on the western side of theEastern Continental Divide, which runs through the east side of Highlands.
A two-lane highway calledMountain Waters Scenic Byway, which is the combinedroute ofU.S. 64 andNC 28, runs through the Cullasaja Gorge. It is mostly protected as part of theNantahala National Forest. TheU.S. Forest Service has designated this as aNational Scenic Byway because of the river and its numerouswaterfalls, including:
The road is known as Franklin Road near Highlands, and Highlands Road near Franklin. Twotownships are located in the valley below thegorge: Sugarfork and Ellijay. The Cullasaja's largest tributary is most likely Buck Creek. The most well-known isPeek's Creek, where a catastrophicflood andmudslide occurred in September 2004.
Several historicCherokee towns were located along the Cullasaja River. The town of Ellijay was on Ellijay Creek, a tributary of Cullasaja River. Several Cherokee towns were calledKulsetsiyi (orSugartown), abbreviated Kulsetsi, including one on the Keowee River in South Carolina, and one on the Cullasaja River near Ellijay Creek. "Cullasaja" is a variant spelling of the Cherokee town name"Kulsetsi". This Cherokee town's name is the origin of the name "Sugar Fork".
One of the largest and most important Cherokee towns, known asNikwasi, or Nucassee, was located at the confluence of the Cullasaja River and the Little Tennessee River. The town ofFranklin developed on the former site of Nikwasi town. What remains of the historic town is an earthworkplatform mound, believed to have been built about 1000AD during theSouth Appalachian Mississippian culture period. After the Cherokee were forced to cede their land here, the mound and related site were privately owned for decades. In 1946 the town of Franklin bought the site to preserve the mound.
TheEastern Band of Cherokee Indians, based onQualla Boundary, is the only federally recognized tribe in North Carolina. It negotiated with Franklin and set up a non-profit, Nikwasi Initiative, to take over maintenance and control of the mound and small related site. The tribe, town and a regional non-profitMainspring Conservation Trust, are working to create a cultural corridor along the Little Tennessee River. In 2020 Mainspring bought the Watauga Mound and part of Watauga Town site, another ancient Cherokee site, for transfer to the EBCI. These two sites, together with Kituwa, which the EBCI owns again, will be linked for education and interpretation in this area.