page_title: Chattooga River
section_title: Tributaries
hierarchical_section_title: Chattooga River / Tributaries
caption_attribution_description: East Fork of the Chatooga River, immediately upstream of confluence with Chatooga River
context_page_description: The Chattooga River is the main tributary of the Tugaloo River. Its headwaters are located southwest of Cashiers, North Carolina, and it stretches 57 miles to where it has its confluence with the Tallulah River within Lake Tugalo, held back by the Tugalo Dam. The Chattooga and the Tallulah combine to make the Tugaloo River starting at the outlet of Lake Tugalo. The Chattooga begins in southern Jackson County, North Carolina, then flows southwestward between northwestern Oconee County, South Carolina, and eastern Rabun County, Georgia. The "Chattooga" spelling was approved by the US Board on Geographic Names in 1897.
  The Chattooga River flows into Tugalo Lake where it joins the Tallulah River. After flowing through Tugalo Dam the combined rivers become the Tugaloo River which, along with the Seneca River, becomes the Savannah River below Lake Hartwell. Downstream from that point, the water flows into the Atlantic Ocean near Savannah, Georgia. The Chattooga was used as a setting for the fictional Cahulawassee River in the book and film Deliverance.
context_section_description: The river is split into three forks.  The Chattooga River is the main fork, running along the state line.  The East Fork Chattooga River (sometimes East Prong Chattooga River) runs in from Jackson County, North Carolina and then Oconee County, South Carolina, and is 7.4 miles (11.9 km) long.  The West Fork Chattooga River (variant name Gumekoloke Creek) runs 6.0 miles (9.7 km) in from Rabun County, Georgia, and is also a variant name for that county's Holcomb Creek, one of its own tributaries.
  One of the largest tributaries in the Chattooga basin that flows mainly through private lands is Stekoa Creek, which flows primarily southeast for approximately 18 miles (29 km) from its headwaters in Mountain City, Georgia, through Clayton, Georgia, to its mouth at the Chattooga River. Stekoa Creek has been the single greatest threat to the Chattooga's water quality, due primarily to raw sewage leaking from the City of Clayton, GA's old sewage collection system, storm drains overflowing, sediment-laden runoff, poor agricultural practices, failing septic systems, and dumping from apathetic individuals. Non-profit organizations such as the Chattooga Conservancy, a non-profit organization dedicated to the protection, promotion, and restoration of the Chattooga River watershed, has made the neglected issue of improving water quality in Stekoa Creek a top priority. The Stekoa Creek Basin is approximately 45 square miles (120 km²) in size.
caption: Headwaters of the East Fork
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